Bozeman man pleads guilty to child pornography charges

MISSOULA - A Bozeman man accused of trading and uploading child pornography admitted to charges yesterday, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

The defendant, Jaden Douglas Batson, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography. Batson faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years, a maximum term of 20 years, a $250,000 fine, and not less than five years to a lifetime of supervised release.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto presided. U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for July 1, 2026. Batson remains released with conditions pending further proceedings.

The government alleged in court documents that in June 2023, law enforcement received a Cybertip from an electronic service provider indicating that an account registered to Batson had paid $20 for child pornography. Law enforcement obtained and executed a search warrant for Batson's PayPal account and received information indicating he made a payment of $20 on June 14, 2023, with a note stating, "For the cp gc."

Based on this and other information, law enforcement continued to receive other Cybertips connected to Batson. These tips, submitted by electronic service providers, reflected Batson trading and uploading child pornography. Multiple search warrants were obtained and executed on various electronic service accounts registered to Batson and results contained multiple images and videos of child pornography. On April 9, 2025, a search warrant was executed at Batson's residence in Bozeman, Montana and electronic media was seized. During the execution of that warrant, Batson agreed to be interviewed following a waiver of Miranda. During that interview, Batson admitted he had traded child pornography on social media sites. His cellular phone was later reviewed and approximately 688 videos and 362 images of child pornography were discovered. Also found were messages consistent with Batson attempting to obtain child pornography.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeno Baucus prosecuted the case. Homeland Security Investigations and Bozeman Police Department conducted the investigation.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.

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