Jason Lighthall

From Rofflehaus

Jason Neal Lighthall holds the record for having the largest cache of child pornography at ISU.

Following a confirmed tip that Lighthall was making child pornography materials available to others from his computer, the DPS entered his room in Welch Hall on March 25, 2003 with a search warrant. They seized his computer and storage disks. Among a wide variety of pornographic materials, they found over 7000 images and 3 GB of movies of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Inexplicably, Lighthall – then a freshman in aerospace engineering – was allowed to leave the dorm to move into his parents' home in Altoona. As most would expect, he quickly resumed his old habit (he admitted that he had started trading child pornography long before he enrolled to ISU). It was only after this discovery that an arrest was made on May 2. He had deleted the files off the hard drive, but found hidden in his closet were numerous zip disks containing newly acquired material. He faced 60 class D felony and 100 serious misdemeanors charges.

All the counts were dropped by the state of Iowa so that Lighthall could be tried in federal court. He eventually pled guilty to one count of distribution and one count of receipt of child pornography.

During sentencing, Paul Scott of Clive, Lighthall's attorney claimed that his client suffered from a myriad of mental illnesses including depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and attention-deficit disorder, and was undergoing psychiatric help when he was arrested, and therefore should have his sentence reduced – a departure from the 70-87 months prescribed in the guideline.

The government's rebuttal was that by resuming his operation after the first seizure, going as far as altering the mode in ways to avoid detection, Lighthall aggravated his criminal conduct. Further, the testimonies of sex therapist Nicholas Tormey and psychologist Craig Rypma regarding Lighthall's mental state were opinions not supported by scientific evidence. By far the biggest objection was the fact that Lighthall himself admitted that not only had he engaged in phone sex with minors, he had also had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl he had sought out and communicated with through the internet – a predatory behavior.

In the end, U.S. District Judge Ronald Longstaff granted the departure and sentenced for three years and 10 months in prison, and recommended that Lighthall be transferred to a facility in Rochester, Minnesota for rehabilitation.

[edit] News articles

The article, Student arrested on child porn charges, in the 05/03, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 05/03/2002)
The article, ISU student moves to suppress evidence in child porn case, in the 08/26, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 08/26/2002)
The article, State drops pornography charges to allow for federal trial, in the 08/27, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 08/27/2002)
The article, Arraignment set for Lighthall, in the 08/28, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 08/28/2002)
The article, Marshals fail to escort Lighthall to court, in the 08/29, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 08/29/2002)
The article, EDITORIAL:Lighthallâ€™s case example to all, in the 08/29, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 08/29/2002)
The article, Lighthall pleads not guilty, in the 09/04, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 09/04/2002)
The article, Technology plays a part in access and arrests relating to child pornography, in the 04/01, 2003 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 04/01/2003)
The article, Former student charged with child porn to be sentenced Friday, in the 08/29, 2003 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 08/29/2003)
The article, Former ISU student sentenced to four years in prison for possession of child pornography, in the 09/04, 2003 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 09/04/2003)