Killdeer Man faces federal charges for alleged decade-long child sexual abuse
Jul. 19—DUNN COUNTY, N.D. — Killdeer native, Jason L. Hutchinson, aged 52, is facing multiple federal charges for allegedly committing aggravated crimes of a sexual nature against children. One of his victims is reported to have endured these acts for a period spanning over a decade.
According to court documents from Dunn County, on April 23, 2023, the ND Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Dunn County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at Hutchinson's residence in Killdeer. Following an investigation, multiple digital files containing sexual content involving a minor were discovered.
Initially, Hutchinson faced ten counts of promoting or directing an obscene sexual performance by a minor, classified as class A felonies; and ten counts of possession of certain prohibited materials, classified as class C felonies. However, all twenty charges were dismissed by Southwest District Judge Dann Greenwood after Dunn County State's Attorney Christina Kissinger filed a motion for dismissal.
Kissinger did not respond to The Press' request for comment.
Hutchinson now faces federal felony charges, including two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child sexual exploitation images. His legal representation is being provided by public defender Christina P. Rudy and the case is being prosecuted by senior litigant Gary L. Delorme, who has been serving in the office since 2008, having previously worked in prosecution at the state level in Cass and Stutsman Counties.
According to federal court documents, between 1999 and 2006, Hutchinson allegedly knowingly attempted to engage a minor in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct, using materials that were transported in interstate or foreign commerce, including through computer means. The documents outline how Hutchinson's alleged actions are in violation of Title 18, United States Code.
The same document alleges that Hutchinson victimized a second minor from 1999 to 2011, in a similar manner.
Both federal cases present alleged facts that mirror the original allegations made by the North Dakota BCI, stating that he knowingly possessed visual depictions of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which had been transported using interstate and foreign commerce, specifically through the internet.
During the state and federal investigations, several electronic devices were seized, including an iPad, three computers, five pen cameras, hard drives and multiple flash drives.
According to the federal court database Pacer, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Clare R. Hochhalter has ordered Hutchinson to appear in court for a status conference on August 23, followed by a felony jury trial on September 12.
The federal Bureau of Prisons' website
lists
the release date for Hutchinson as July 4, 2033.
