Johnathan Nathaniel Allen, 27, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has pleaded guilty in federal court to the production of child sexual abuse material. Allen, who had served as a county sheriff’s deputy since 2021, targeted a 13-year-old girl located in York County South Carolina.
In September 2024, Allen used Reddit and the TextMe platform to contact the minor. Posing as a 14-year-old boy named “Josh,” Allen pressured the victim to produce sexually explicit content. Evidence revealed that Allen initiated contact through a forum referencing teenagers before moving the conversation to text messages using a virtual phone number.
During their interactions, Allen instructed the minor to perform explicit acts and told her to delete their messages to avoid detection. Despite his claims that he could be trusted, Allen was 25 years old at the time of the offense…