Fr. James Jackson, FSSP Pleads Guilty to Child Porn

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (ChurchMilitant.com) - A traditionalist priest is pleading guilty to receipt of child porn. 

On June 8, in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island, Fr. James Jackson, a member of the traditionalist Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), pled guilty to receipt of child pornography. This came during a hearing before Judge William Smith, where Jackson changed his initial plea of not guilty, entered Dec. 21, 2021, to guilty.

He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum of five years, a fine of $250,000 and supervised release of five years to life, among other things. 

"So you do not want to have a trial in this case, is that what you are saying?" asked Judge Smith at the hearing.

"Yes, your honor," said Jackson.

It comes one day after Assistant U.S. Attorney John McAdams filed a motion opposing Jackson's attempt to omit evidence, namely, child porn found on his laptop and hard drive during his rearrest in Kansas last year.

During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney James McAdams read off an extensive list of child abuse material found on Jackson's laptop and hard drive, including graphic depictions of "father/daughter" incest as well as bestiality involving toddlers, among other things.

After McAdams finished, the judge asked Jackson whether there was anything with which he disagreed in what McAdams said. After a pause, Jackson answered, "No, your honor." 

The U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island published a statement confirming the priest "pleaded guilty today in that matter to a charge of receipt of child pornography."

This marks the end of a prosecution that began in November 2021, after Jackson was first arrested in Providence, Rhode Island.

Prosecution and Rearrest

A months-long sting in fall 2021 revealed he was accessing and distributing "12,000 images and 1,300 video files" of child porn from his rectory at St. Mary's Church in Providence multiple times. An Oct. 30 raid led by Homeland Security Special Agent James Richardson turned up a computer and hard drive containing hundreds of images of child sex abuse material involving infants, toddlers and bestiality.

An affidavit (caution: graphic) details the nature of the investigation and the disturbing footage found.

Jackson was released on bond with electronic monitoring and permitted to travel to Kansas to stay with family in 2021, under strict conditions that he not possess any unauthorized laptops and that his internet use be monitored.

He violated these conditions, and in July 2022 he was rearrested after he was caught attempting to access child porn again.

According to a July 12, 2022 memo: "[T]he child pornography investigation conducted by his agency identified internet activity linked to Mr. Jackson from May 2022 to June 2022 in which he allegedly engaged in accessing child pornography."

The June 7, 2023 motion by the prosecuting attorney notes,

Probation conducted a search of the laptop which indicated there may be images on the device that were of adult pornography, child pornography and computer-generated child pornography images. Further review of the device found search items identified as "innocent virgin" "little sister" and "Lolita." Accordingly, the latop was returned to Rhode Island, where a search warrant was obtained and the ICAC conducted a digital forensic examination of the contents of the laptop’s hard drive. Analysis determined that the operating system on the laptop was registered to "frjjackson@msn.com" and that the only active user account on the laptop had a display name of "james jackson."

The motion continues:

The analyst also discovered dozens of images depicting computer-generated children engaged in sexual acts. The original images files were no longer located on the hard drive; instead, the analyst observed the images directly through the hard drive's "thumbcache," which is a set of files that stores depictions of images that are presented to the user when a folder containing the images is viewed in the operating system.

A laptop and external hard drive seized from Jackson's bedroom in Kansas "found image files depicting Defendant, indicated his ownership of the device, and numerous files with filenames indicative of CSAM [child sex abuse material]."

After being transported back to Rhode Island, Jackson told the judge in an Oct. 3, 2022 detention hearing that probable cause exists for the federal government to prove he violated conditions of his bond, including possession of child porn.

Unlike the vast majority of accused clergy, Fr. Jackson has never issued a personal statement proclaiming his innocence.

Unquestioning Loyalty

Church Militant first reported the news that Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (OLMC) parish in Littleton, CO, an apostolate of the FSSP, and the former longtime parish of Fr. Jackson, was soliciting "statements of support" on Jackson's behalf. It was also encouraging parishioners to write letters and send money to Jackson in jail, as it had been doing since his initial arrest.

The solicitation included a "Sample Statement of Support," a form letter with guidance on how to write a character reference for Jackson. The letter ended: "Lastly, include your recommendation as to why the Judge should show lenience towards James."

The solicitation erroneously stated that the "letters can be read in court should Father Jackson have a trial," when in fact the letters would be read at sentencing — only after a guilty verdict or guilty plea.

This reporter contacted the parish seeking clarification on the wording of the solicitation: 

As it reads, it is deceptive, deceiving parishioners into thinking their letters could be admitted as character evidence at trial to help exonerate Fr. Jackson and lead to a not guilty verdict, thus securing more letters on his behalf than if parishioners knew these were for sentencing after a guilty plea/verdict.

The parish issued a correction the following day: 

Yesterday a Flocknote was sent out communicating information about Statements of Support for Fr. Jackson. It was subsequently pointed out that the Flocknote lacked precision. ... Such Statements of Support would indeed be read "in court" but only during sentencing in the event of a guilty plea/verdict (to argue for leniency) not during the trial process to determine the verdict.

The message went on to explain that the original solicitation "was only to provide information for parishioners who wished to write such statements."

The pastor, Fr. Matthew McCarthy, apologized "if the impression was created of an official endorsement."

From the beginning, the parish has ardently supported Fr. Jackson, whom many parishioners were convinced was innocent — even after he admitted in October 2022 that probable cause exists to prove he possessed child porn in Kansas.

The OLMC parish Knights of Columbus chapter has held "Burrito Sales" to raise money for Fr. Jackson, and the parish has offered holy hours, Rosaries and prayers to the Holy Face of Jesus on his behalf.

Assistant Pastor Fr. Daniel Nolan pushed the narrative that Jackson was "framed" by federal agents — a belief shared by many parishioners.

One parishioner who spoke to Church Militant confirmed the parish facilitated unquestioning loyalty to Jackson.

"There are many, many good people there who are just wonderful and the liturgy is beautiful," the parishioner said. "However, the culture and group-think has [sic] been overwhelming."

The parish issued no official communication to parishioners after Jackson's November 2021 arrest. 

"[I]t seems to me highly irresponsible to not provide any information for this heinous crime in case there were victims," the parishioner said. "While at the parish for over a decade (if I remember correctly), he had ample access to children."

The parishioner noted that it was "simply not allowed to criticize Father James Jackson":

I believe that if I shared my personal opinion about this case (namely, that he is indeed presumed innocent until proven guilty under the law but that having been arrested twice and there being good reason to believe he might be guilty, there should be a full investigation, reach out to find potential victims, and a fair trial) at the parish, I would be socially ostracized.

The parish also encouraged its community to donate to a controversial fundraiser that ended up misusing donor funds.

'Framed by the Feds'

Michael Parrott of Restoring the Faith Media became notorious for launching the fundraiser for Jackson that raised nearly $150,000.

He promised donors he would spend half of the money on a "private investigation" involving "forensic computing" of "relevant physical devices." He also stated he was working with "two teams" of investigators, and that he had hired "former NSA, former State Department former Homeland Security."

None of that ever actually happened.

Instead, Parrott paid $55,000 to Michael Archer, an unlicensed investigator with no expertise in forensic computing, who filed for bankruptcy after receiving payment. To this day, Archer has refused to give a detailed account of how he has spent the donations, and has disobeyed a court order to hand over his bank statements and correspondence with Parrott pertaining to his "investigation."

Church Militant confirmed that Parrott tried to get a personal kickback from the attorney representing Fr. Jackson. The attorney refused, as doing so would have been wire fraud, a federal crime.

At the time the fundraiser was launched, this reporter questioned the wisdom of such a venture in a Nov. 6, 2021 Facebook post:

Has anyone thought of the public optics of a fundraiser for a priest who may be spending years in a federal penitentiary for the most extreme child porn? ...

The forever headline by media will be: "TRAD CATHOLICS RAISED $140K FOR CONVICTED CHILD PORN PRIEST"

Great job, guys. Every single person who donated (especially those who publicly vouched for his innocence) will have contributed to a huge black mark on traditionalism, further giving the impression to outsiders that trads (whether SSPX or FSSP) really don't care about abuse victims; they just care about protecting priests — including predators.

Church Militant also questioned the feasibility of Parrott's "private investigation," noting that it would be impossible for Parrott to gain access to the evidence (seized computer and hard drive) being used by federal prosecutors to try Jackson.

As a result of Church Militant's questioning, Parrott deflected by accusing this apostolate of "threatening" his family, blackmail, extortion and wire fraud, among other crimes. Church Militant sued him for defamation, and a May 31, 2022 deposition revealed that Parrott had no proof for any of his claims.

He was also caught numerous times lying or backtracking on his outrageous allegations.

Parrott also admitted to never having conducted any forensic computing nor did he access any relevant physical devices, as he had promised donors.

When asked by this reporter in November 2021 whether Parrott would refund money to donors if Jackson were found guilty, Parrott said no. Church Militant confirmed that Parrott has never contacted individual donors to offer them a refund.

Church Militant won the defamation lawsuit, with Parrott forced to issue an apology and pay attorneys' fees.

Parrott was also put on administrative trial by the U.S. Marines and kicked out for violating articles of the Military Code of Conduct, including Article 92 (violating a lawful order) and Article 133 (conduct unbecoming an officer). They also found him to have engaged in "substandard performance" as a Marine. 

FSSP on Fr. Jackson

The FSSP issued a statement after the guilty plea: 

The North American Province of the Fraternity of St. Peter is aware that on June 8, 2023, Fr. James Jackson entered a guilty plea in exchange for a reduced sentence.  The Fraternity of St. Peter pledges to cooperate with civil and ecclesiastical authorities in this case.  Fr. Jackson has not had faculties to function publicly as a priest since his arrest in October 2021.  Until Fr. Jackson was arrested, the Fraternity of St. Peter was not aware of anything in his words or behavior that could give rise to suspicion concerning such actions. Crimes of this type are execrable, and Catholics should pray for the victims of pornography and work to put an end to its industry.

The FSSP, which offers the traditional liturgy, was canonically erected in 1988 under Pope St. John Paul II, after a number of priests left the Society of St. Pius X following Abp. Marcel Lefebvre's illicit consecration of four bishops. 

Father Jackson served as rector of the FSSP's seminary in Denton, Nebraska from 2000–2007. 

Church Militant asked FSSP leadership whether it was aware of any allegations of sexual misconduct against Jackson prior to his 2021 arrest. 

Attorney Joseph Gaughan responded on behalf of the FSSP: "The Fraternity is not aware of any allegations of sexual misconduct prior to Fr. Jackson's arrest in October of 2021."

When asked to respond to Fr. Nolan's role in pushing the narrative — possibly from the pulpit — that Fr. Jackson was "framed," Gaughan wrote, "Fraternity priests, just like any other priests, are expected to follow the norms of Canon Law regarding preaching.  cf. Can. 768 §1," going on to quote the canon and offering no other comment.

Father Jackson was featured in Episode 1 of the trilogy Mass of the Ages, highlighting the beauties of the Traditional Latin Mass. The director, Cameron O'Hearn, made a YouTube video shortly after Jackson's initial arrest saying he believed Jackson was innocent, based on spending a few hours with him and sensing his "holiness."

Catholics Divided

Social media was sharply divided over Jackson's innocence or guilt, with some Catholics  insisting on his innocence.

Intense debate took place on Twitter, with Jackson loyalists attacking those who took a more measured approach.

Jackson's sentencing is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 11. 

 

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