Content warning: The following information contains details of child sexual abuse.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City woman was sentenced to 45 years in prison after sending child pornography to her husband while he was in prison.

According to the United States Department of Justice, Jessica Ann Young, 34, received a sentence of 45 years without parole on November 12, 2024.

She pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor on March 11, 2024, after she was accused of sending her husband, Houston Wade Young, 37, sexually explicit images of children in March 2020.

Houston Young was an inmate at the Vernon County Jail at the time. He was detained for civil proceedings related to previous convictions for sexual crimes.

Vernon County Jail officials found a cell phone in Houston Young’s possession that had images of child pornography on it. By reading the text messages on the phone, investigators determined that Jessica Young had sent the photos.

In the texts, Jessica Young detailed the sexual abuse of a 7-year-old boy and sent Houston Young several other images of child pornography.

When questioned, Jessica Young admitted that she had sexually abused the 7-year-old boy and another 13-year-old boy multiple times. She admitted to recording herself abusing the 13-year-old boy.

Houston Young was also found to have shared explicit photos of himself with a 16-year-old girl and requested pornographic images from her. He shared those photos and photos of himself with Jessica Young.

The 16-year-old victim in the photos told investigators that she and Houston Young met in a League of Legends game room chat room and began communicating outside of that platform through text messages, Kik and Whatsapp.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Houston Young was “involuntarily committed to the Missouri Department of Mental Health’s Sex Offender Treatment and Rehabilitation Services program in February 2021.” He was previously convicted of sexually abusing a child in 2005 and possession of child pornography in 2016.

Houston Young pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor on Jan. 30, 2024, for the incident at the Vernon County Jail and is now serving a life sentence without parole.

Jessica Young will serve her 45-year sentence in federal prison.

The FBI, Vernon County, Missouri, Sheriff’s Department and the Kentucky Department of Criminal Investigation assisted in the investigation.

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