Trans Woman Admits To Abusing 2 Kids After Unknowingly Sending Child Porn To Undercover Agent

KEY POINTS

Jakob Nieves, who also goes by the name Dakota, was sentenced to 30 years in prison
She was arrested in 2019 after she sent child abuse content to an undercover agent through Kik
Nieves pleaded guilty in 2020 to sexually abusing two kids she knew who were under the age of four

A 21-year-old transgender woman in Essex County, Massachusetts was sentenced Wednesday for sexually exploiting two children under the age of four.

Jakob Nieves, who also goes by the name Dakota, was sentenced to 30 years in prison and five years of supervised released by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement released on the same day as the sentencing.

According to the DOJ statement, Nieves pleaded guilty in August 2020 to two counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Prior to her arrest in August 2019, an undercover federal agent made contact with Nieves through mobile messaging app Kik as part of an investigation into the messenger's use in the trade of child pornography, the DOJ said.

Nieves had told the agent about the ways that she sexually abused two children known to her, additionally sending the agent images and videos she had produced that showed her sexually abusing one of the children.

The DOJ said law enforcement agents executed a search warrant on Nieves' home on Aug. 14, 2019, where she admitted to distributing images and videos of child pornography to a user she met in a Kik group that was geared toward individuals interested in pedophilia.

A forensic analysis of Nieves' phone "revealed pornographic images and videos of two children known to Nieves, both of whom were under the age of four, as well as thousands of child pornography images depicting at least 175 victims personally unknown to Nieves."

Nieves had no previous criminal record prior to her arrest and had been treated for seizures and depression in the past, according to a previous report by local newspaper The Eagle-Tribune.

Judge Marianne Bowler was quoted by the newspaper as saying in an order that Nieves took "hormonal treatments to assist in her sexual transition" and was also "a daily user of marijuana."