NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Nashville man was sentenced Monday to 105 years in prison for producing and distributing child pornography involving an infant and a toddler, according to U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee.
“The sentence imposed by the Court should insure that this defendant will never have another opportunity to inflict his perverted sexual desires upon another innocent child,” said Cochran.
Jarratt A. Turner, 36, befriended families and then offered to babysit these children, according to reports.
Pictures and video produced by Turner in his basement apartment included a toddler girl on 10 different occasions and infant boy on six different occasions, said Cochran.
The explicit material included evidence of Turner molesting the children, who were between the ages of 12 months and 2 1/2 years old at he time.
Cochran stated that Turner distributed these images on the internet using publicly available Wi-Fi networks to avoid being caught.
Court records also said Turner often tried to access other vulnerable children by dressing as Spiderman when washing windows at a local children’s hospital.
Turner was working outside of Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital at the time News 2 interviewed him, he was a contract worker and not an employee of the hospital.
We reached out to Vanderbilt after sentencing and they sent us this response from John Howser, chief communications officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center:
The safety and well-being of every patient is always our first priority. The individual you are asking about was never an employee of Vanderbilt University Medical Center but worked for a contracted service provider washing windows in October 2014. At the time of this individual’s arrest Vanderbilt University Police Department investigated the matter and found no indication of inappropriate or illegal behavior by this individual had occurred on our campus, and found no indication that any illegal photos or videos in his possession were associated with our patients. All VUMC employees must pass a thorough pre-employment criminal background check before being hired. We also require that external staffing agencies employing temporary workers must adhere to the same background screening procedures and criteria established for VUMC staff.”
“Children of this community are a little safer with this sexual predator behind bars,” said assistant special agent in charge Robert Hammer, who oversees Homeland Security Investigation’s operations in Tennessee. “The fact he would film, and then upload to the internet, videos of himself molesting an infant and toddler, then take elaborate steps to conceal his activities, represents the extreme danger he posed to the community.”
Turner was charged on June 1, 2015, with 16 counts of production of child pornography and transportation of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to all counts of the indictment.
He was sentenced Monday by visiting U.S. District Court Judge Marvin E. Aspen.