Plant City teen sentenced to eight years for making child porn

TAMPA — The defendant was a shy high school student who took nude photographs of a sleeping 6-year-old girl and uploaded them to a website frequented by pedophiles from all over the world.

His lawyer called him a sheltered youth, then just 16, who didn't know such an act could send him to prison. The prosecutor said the teen was a dangerous predator who needed to be separated from society.

In a four-hour hearing last week, Jared Kyle Henry's defense presented one witness after another who talked about what a good boy he was, how he had never been mean, how he went to Christian school, and said, "Yes, sir," and, "Yes, ma'am."

But as a parade of Henry's aunts, uncles, grandparents, and family friends testified, so did those close to the victim, another family member. The story that emerged was one of a family ripped apart by the actions of a naïve boy who left them all with irreparable scars.

Henry was arrested in 2014 after Canadian authorities passed a tip to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement about images Henry had uploaded online. The 18-year-old had pleaded guilty to 14 charges, which included promotion of sexual performance by a child, lewd or lascivious molestation, and possession of child pornography.

"He set in motion the utter destruction of my family," the victim's mother said. "Our lifelong relationships have been completely severed."

Family members packed both sides of the courtroom. Some, when they spoke, asked Circuit Judge Ashley Moody to go light on Henry.

He was a precocious youngster who kept to himself, they said. He lived in Plant City with his mother, a civilian employee of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Michael Gamache, a forensic psychologist, said Henry was a lonely, sexually inexperienced kid who started looking at adult pornography in his early teens.

In forensic interviews, Henry professed no sexual interest in young children himself, a claim backed up by a psychosexual assessment, Gamache said. He showed no signs of being a sociopath and was considered unlikely to repeat his crimes.

Assistant State Attorney Aaron Hubbard noted the lengths to which Henry went to hide his pornography, placing it in a hidden folder on his iPad secured with long, complex passwords. The state sought a 15-year prison sentence.

"In no way do I feel that he was acting as a typical 16-year-old," Hubbard said.

Defense attorney William Knight asked Henry how he felt about what he had done.

"I got caught in something that was over my head," Henry said. "It's torn my family apart. There's not an hour that goes by that I don't think about that. I just wish I could change it."

He asked the judge if he could address the victim's mother. He turned around. Tears flowed. With his palms raised, he croaked out an apology.

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"I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you," he said. "Whether or not you believe me, I'm truly sorry."

On Monday morning, Judge Moody gave Henry eight years in state prison followed by 22 years of sex offender probation. He will have to register as a sex offender for life.

Contact Dan Sullivan at dsullivan@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3386. Follow @TimesDan.