Missouri Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Recording Sexual Abuse of 8-Year-Old

ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a man who recorded his sexual abuse of an 8-year-old to 25 years in prison.

Jacob J. Hampton, 33, placed a hidden camera in a bathroom to record an 8-year-old girl. Police found images on Hampton's phone of Hampton abusing the victim, as well as child sexual abuse material that he'd obtained online.

Hampton, of O'Fallon, Missouri, pleaded guilty in January of 2025 to one count of production of child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography.

The FBI, the St. Charles County Police Department and the St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

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 the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.