Court docs: Greenwood man admits to selling child sexual abuse material on X

GREENWOOD, Ind. — A Greenwood man allegedly admitted to selling child sexual abuse material on online platforms like X, formerly Twitter, and Discord, according to court documents.

Jordan Shepherd, 19, reportedly told police, when confronted, that he sold the illicit material for between $5 and $20 a pop to make some money. He also allegedly admitted to “scamming” people online by setting up fake GoFundMe donation links.

Shepherd was charged in Johnson County Superior Court on Tuesday with one count of child exploitation and one count of possession of child sexual abuse material, both Level 5 felonies.

According to court documents, the investigation into Shepherd began in November when Zionsville police received a tip about child sexual abuse material being sold on X. Investigators accuse Shepherd of blatantly advertising the sale of underage child porn using accounts on X, Mega, Telegram and Discord.

Court documents show these accounts were traced back to Shepherd through email addresses and IP addresses.

Conversations between Shepherd and X users included Shepherd telling users to send him $5 or $10 to his PayPal or Cash App for access to the whole file of child sexual abuse material, having used “samples” in his post to advertise the sale.

In one conversation, per the court documents, Shepherd claimed to have made $350 the previous night selling child sexual abuse material on X. He said he continually makes new X accounts to bypass his accounts being suspended and even bragged about the traffic on his X posts, claiming to have racked up 300,000 views in one day.

When police eventually confronted Shepherd in August at his Greenwood home, he was allegedly asked if he knew why officers were looking into his X accounts. Shepherd allegedly asked if it was about the “scams” he runs using fake GoFundMe donation links.

When police told him it was about selling child sexual abuse material, Shepherd allegedly confessed to the crime, saying he had sold such illicit material to make money.

According to court documents, a search of Shepherd’s phone uncovered some child sexual abuse material involving both males and females estimated to be under the age of 12.

If convicted, Shepherd could face up to six years in prison on a Level 5 felony.