A former Starkville police officer will spend seven years in prison after a jury found him guilty in July of five counts of child exploitation.
Circuit Judge Jim Kitchens sentenced Charles Jordan on Tuesday to 12 years with five of them suspended, meaning he will not be in prison but will be under close supervision for the last five years of his sentence. He will also have to pay a $5,000 fine.
Jordan claimed during the three-day trial that he believed he was sending sexually explicit photos and videos to a 19-year-old in February 2017, when she was actually 16. He asked her four times to send him explicit content in return, and he also asked her to “meet with him for the purpose of engaging in sexually explicit conduct,” according to circuit court documents.
Jordan claimed the victim told him she was 19, which lined up with the birth date on what he thought was her Facebook profile. However, she testified at the trial that she did not create the Facebook page Jordan referenced.
Colom said he consulted with the victim to decide on Jordan’s sentence, for which seven years in prison would be the minimum.
Marty Haug, Jordan’s attorney who is also who is also District 3 Justice Court Judge in Oktibbeha County, declined to comment to The Dispatch on Tuesday.
The Starkville board of aldermen voted in June 2017 to suspend Jordan from the police force without pay after the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the inappropriate texts he sent, and Jordan later resigned.
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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