A former IT professional from Mounds, Oklahoma, has been sentenced for crimes involving child sexual abuse material. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby sentenced Jonathan Tyler Gross, 37, to 123 months in prison and 20 years of supervised release after his conviction for attempted receipt and possession of child pornography. Gross will also be required to register as a sex offender upon release and pay $3,000 in restitution and a $10,000 fine.
According to court documents, Gross was employed as an IT professional in 2025 when his employer discovered child sexual abuse material on his work computer and reported it to law enforcement. The employer believed Gross had accessed encrypted chat rooms. Law enforcement reviewed devices provided by the employer and found several images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Gross admitted that from at least November 2022 until his arrest in April 2025 he viewed and possessed images of children being sexually abused. He acknowledged having a sexual interest in minors between the ages of 14 and 17. Some images found during the investigation depicted children as young as five to seven years old being exploited. Authorities received a CyberTip from an email provider indicating that Gross was uploading child sexual abuse material to one of twelve personal email accounts he maintained.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Child Victim Identification Program assisted with identifying at least one known victim based on materials found during the investigation. A victim impact statement was submitted to the court, with restitution ordered by Judge Shelby directed to the identified victim.
After Gross’s indictment in April 2025, a minor victim came forward reporting that she met him through church while working for his family as a housecleaner and babysitter at age fifteen. Court records indicate that beginning in January 2016, Gross groomed her via late-night messages using various aliases on Snapchat. Investigators determined that between January 2016 and January 2019, Gross created twenty-two alias Snapchat accounts used for communicating with the minor victim and persuading her to send sexually explicit photos.
Gross pleaded guilty in October while released on bond but was taken into custody following his plea pending transfer to federal prison authorities. The $10,000 fine imposed will be paid into the Crime Victims Fund supporting victims of federal crimes.
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Robert.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating online child exploitation through coordinated efforts among federal, state, and local agencies.
