FBI: Facebook 'friend' held 14-year-old captive 4 months

Cameron Knight | The Cincinnati Enquirer

NORWOOD, Ohio — A man under electronic monitoring while he awaited court action in an abduction case held another 14-year-old girl captive for four months, authorities said.

The girl, whom he impregnated during her captivity, only became free when the man was convicted in the earlier case and fled the state after authorities stopped monitoring his movements, FBI officials said Wednesday.

Cody Jackson, 20, was arrested Oct. 8 at a Greyhound bus station in Salt Lake City and is being brought back to Ohio to face charges in connection with the teen's abduction, according to the Deseret News. He faces federal charges of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and production of child pornography.

In addition to federal charges, Jackson also faces four counts of rape, one count of kidnapping, four counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor and one count of interference with custody brought by Norwood police and the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office.

This is the third federal case involving coercion and enticement to come to light in the past week in the Cincinnati area. Nicholas Kurtz, 21, of Springboro, Ohio, is accused of using the Internet to blackmail underage girls in five states — Maryland, Michigan, New York, Virginia and Wisconsin — for nude photos and videos. Bryan Harris, 27, of Blue Ash, Ohio, is accused of using Facebook to harass more than 15 teens for sex and pictures.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Muncy said the cases are not connected, and it's coincidental they were announced so close together. She noted the arrest dates and circumstances of the cases all happened over the course of two years or longer.

In Jackson's case, Hamilton County courts had placed him on electronic monitoring in September 2014 after he was charged with interference with custody, abduction and kidnapping. Jackson was accused of holding two females against their will in August 2014 in Blue Ash, according to court records. He paid a $100,000 bond and was released with a monitor that tracked his movements.

While awaiting resolution of the criminal case, he lived in a Norwood apartment building. In February, he contacted a 14-year-old girl on Facebook, according to the FBI investigation.

Authorities gave this account of what happened next:

He asked to meet her and arranged to have a taxi pick her up.

He arranged for taxi trips almost every other day for three weeks because the monitoring didn't allow him to leave his home. He had sex with the teen during each visit.

He took control of the girl's social media and email and bought her a phone to use. He also created rules for her to follow.

In March, the teen visited and wasn't allowed to leave.

Jackson is accused of dictating more rules for the teen related to showering, clothing and contact with her family. He verbally abused her and eventually physically abused her, the FBI said.

After 1½ months of almost daily sex with the suspect, the teen became pregnant. An acquaintance that the Deseret News identified as the 20-year-old mother of his child would take the girl out of the apartment at times when police might discover her presence and monitored the teen.

In July, Jackson pleaded guilty to a charge of interference of custody in connection with the 2014 Blue Ash incident. Two victims in that case told police they willingly traveled the country with Jackson but that he began to control and abuse them.

The other charges were dropped, and he was taken off electronic monitoring.

Then he left Ohio, first heading to South Carolina, and the teen was able to escape the Norwood apartment with the help of the landlord, according to the FBI investigation. It was not clear Wednesday when she or her family approached authorities about her captivity.

While Jackson was on the run, he threatened to kill the teen and her family if she didn't continue to send nude photos to him, authorities said.

Jackson now is being extradited from Utah, Muncy said. Court dates in the Cincinnati area have yet to be scheduled.