FSSP Priest Charged With Federal Crimes

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PROVIDENCE (ChurchMilitant.com) - (caution: graphic content) A traditionalist priest was arrested a second time on charges related to possession and distribution of child porn.

Father James Jackson, longtime member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), was first arrested Saturday at St. Mary's Church in Providence, Rhode Island, after a two-month investigation traced pornographic materials back to his computer, located just outside his rectory bedroom.

He posted bail on Sunday. On Tuesday in Cranston, he was arrested again, this time by federal agents.

Both state and federal charges have been filed against Jackson, including possession of child porn and distribution of child porn.

Jackson made an initial appearance in federal court Wednesday before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan. He was released on bond with electronic monitoring, and permitted to travel to Kansas to stay with family. There is no description of whether he spoke in court. His arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 15, where he will formally enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.

At the hearing, Jackson waived his right to a preliminary hearing. According to criminal defense attorneys, there are strategic reasons to do this:

• To avoid publicity if the defendant intends to plead guilty
• To minimize further damage if the defendant is guilty and fears further charges will be raised at the preliminary hearing
• To avoid hostile witnesses if the prosecution has a strong case
• To prevent the prosecution's witness testimony from the preliminary hearing being read at the trial, if those witnesses will be unavailable for the trial 
• As a stalling tactic in the hopes that by the start of trial, witnesses will have become confused on or forgotten the facts

No defendant can be forced to stand trial unless the prosecution can present sufficient evidence of the charge. A preliminary hearing is where this evidence is presented, and is sometimes called the "trial" before the trial — although there is no jury and the judge merely needs to determine whether there is probable cause to move forward with a trial.

The preliminary hearing allows the accused to present counterarguments and exculpatory evidence on his behalf. Father Jackson waived his right to this.

Affidavit: Extreme Child Porn

An affidavit signed Nov. 1 by Homeland Security Special Agent James Richardson details the nature of the investigation and the footage found on Jackson's computer:

On September 4, 2021, East Providence Police Department (EPPD) and Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force member Detective Corporal Stephen Evans identified a computer or other device utilizing Internet Protocol (IP) address 72.82.21.56 sharing files of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) using a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. 

Detective Corporal Evans viewed a portion of the aforementioned files and confirmed several of the video files content to be CSAM. One of the files is described below:

File Name: Wanted Dad And Daughter-1

Description: This video is two minutes, and 32 seconds of a nude prepubescent female performing oral sex on an adult male.

After discovering that child porn had been downloaded on or uploaded and sent from Jackson's computer Sunday, Sept. 26; Friday, Oct. 15; and Sunday, Oct. 17; Detective Evans and other members of the ICAC Task Force raided St. Mary's rectory on Oct. 30.

The task force found the priest outside his rectory and conducted a search of two rooms inside the building. Officers read him his Miranda rights, and the priest asked to speak with his attorney "after learning that detectives were there to investigate offenses related to child pornography."

The affidavit details other disturbing footage found on the priest's hard drive.

RISP Forensic Analyst (FA) Gerald Gent conducted an on-scene forensic preview of Jackson's 2 terabyte Western Digital easystore external hard drive located in Jackson's office area of the rectory which adjoined Jackson's bedroom. As a result of the preview, FA Gent observed hundreds of image and video files depicting [child sexual abuse material]. These image and video files depicted prepubescent females, including infants and toddlers, engaged in sexual acts, to include bondage and bestiality, and/or the graphic and lascivious exhibition of their genitals. One particular video file, Jenny Suck Dog Cock And Loving It.avi ... depicts a nude prepubescent female repeatedly inserting a dog's penis into her mouth.

While various online commentators have offered the possibility that Jackson was "set up" by a hacker who remotely uploaded pornographic material onto his computer, that theory becomes less likely in light of the fact that the content was found on an external hard drive. It also becomes more remote in light of the fact the porn was not simply downloaded but also sent from his computer.

An external hard drive is a storage device separate from the computer that stores data. The material would normally be downloaded from the internet onto the computer first, and then transferred to the external hard drive, although downloading directly to the external hard drive is possible.

Additionally, external hard drives disconnected from the computer cannot be hacked.

Some have even claimed the incident is payback from local satanists, after Jackson held a protest of a black mass. That argument is weakened in light of the fact that the porn downloads took place multiple times in the weeks before the protest took place.

No Denial of Charges

In response to Church Militant's media queries asking whether Jackson has denied any of the charges, FSSP attorney Joseph Gaughan responded Monday and again on Thursday without answering the specific question, instead directing this apostolate to read the FSSP's original statement.

Jackson is being represented by Attorney John L. Calcagni, a former federal prosecutor who is now a criminal defense lawyer based in Providence. Church Militant also asked him whether the priest had denied any of the charges.

We noted in our query that a GoFundMe page had been set up by lay group Restoring the Faith Media to raise money for Jackson's legal defense.

"Most of the Catholics donating are convinced of Fr. Jackson's innocence," Church Militant asked. "Is it not incumbent upon Fr. Jackson to say something one way or another, especially to these Catholics?"

The query continued:

If Fr. Jackson is indeed guilty and that is proven down the road, his refusal to clarify matters now while accepting thousands of dollars in donations from Catholics convinced of his innocence could very likely be seen as taking advantage of their naïveté and goodwill for monetary gain.

As of Wednesday night, the page had raised approximately $50,000 — before it was taken down by GoFundMe for a violation of their terms of service.

Calcagni did not return Church Militant's requests for comment.

Social media has been sharply divided over Jackson's innocence or guilt, with commenters who personally know the priest insisting on his innocence, while others are taking a more measured approach.

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 consecration of four bishops, in defiance of the pope. 

Father Jackson served as rector of the FSSP's seminary in Denton, Nebraska from 2000–2007. Before coming to Rhode Island in August, he served as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Littleton, Colorado. 

He was featured in Episode 1 of the trilogy Mass of the Ages, highlighting the beauties of the Traditional Latin Mass.

The diocese of Providence, under Bp. Thomas Tobin, has prohibited Jackson "from the sacred ministry and the exercise of the office of pastor" following news of his arrest.

The Department of Homeland Security is asking any tips related to this investigation to be made to (401) 734-8114.

The affidavit is set forth in full below.

11/6/2021: This article was updated with new information from Fr. Jackson's Nov. 3 court hearing.

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