Jared Michael Boyce. (Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, via AP)
A member of the white nationalist organization Patriot Front pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in Utah while he faces an unrelated, ongoing Idaho case for trying to riot at an LGBTQ pride event.
Jared Michael Boyce, 28, reached this phase in April, but it was newly reported in local outlets. He pleaded guilty to nine felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and a misdemeanor count of dealing in material that’s harmful to minors, according to KSTU. The remaining 13 counts of sexual exploitation were reportedly dismissed with prejudice. Sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Boyce first gained national infamy as one of the 31 defendants charged with trying to riot at last year’s pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. They were members of the white nationalist Patriot Front.
Officers received information of a large group of similarly dressed masked individuals armed with shields entering the back of a U-haul van heading toward downtown Coeur d’Alene. The concerned citizen reported this activity while a “pride” event was taking place downtown which led several nationally known groups condemning the event on various online social media platforms. Officers believed it likely the intent of these individuals was to incite physical confrontation and cause disorder. The U-Haul van was located and an investigative stop was conducted. A total of 31 subjects were contacted inside of the van. Based on the totality of the investigation, it was determined the subjects were part of the ‘Patriot Front’ and conspired to use violence and/or the threat of the violence to disturb the public peace. ALL 31 were arrested for conspiracy to riot.
His mother, Karen Amsden, told The Daily Beast last year that she gave her son an ultimatum to leave the group or get out of her home. She noted his personal struggles in that he attempted to fill “a void” in his life after his father left the family and came out as gay. He had been searching for “brotherhood” and “some kind of connection” since his teenage years. That search took him into the arms of a racist organization.
According to Amsden, her son told her regarding the Idaho case, “Don’t believe the media, mom. We were just there because they’re grooming kids.”
But cops in Utah said Boyce sent a 16-year-old girl explicit pictures of himself. Boyce confessed to having “sexually themed conversations about children” in an online chatroom, and sending sexually explicit pictures of kids, they said.
According to officials, the FBI had seized his phone for an “unrelated investigation,” and under a search warrant, discovered 22 images of child sexual abuse material.
“The images involve children from toddlers to prepubescents performing sexual acts on adults or other children, as well as images of children exposing their genitals,” court documents reportedly stated.
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