Preston Man Sentenced to 7 Years in Federal Prison for Distributing Child Sex Abuse Material

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JOEL HUNTSMAN, also known as "Jay Huntsman, "Joel Feser," and "Jay Blackburn", 37, of Preston, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to 84 months of imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release for distributing child sex abuse material.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in June 2022, a police officer in New Albany, Ohio, conducting an online undercover investigation observed multiple users, including a user subsequently identified as Huntsman, posting child pornography in a private group chat using the Kik mobile messenger application, and referred the Huntsman matter to the Connecticut State Police. Also in June 2022, Kik submitted a CyberTipLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. related to Huntsman to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children ("NCMEC"). On November 2, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a court-authorized search of Huntsman's residence and seized multiple items, including two mobile phones. Analysis of the seized phones revealed child sex abuse images and videos.

Huntsman has been detained since his arrest on January 26, 2023. On September 9, 2025, he pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Connecticut State Police, and the New Albany (Ohio) Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel E. Cummings and Nancy V. Gifford.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit https://www.cybertipline.comLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..