-
Jason Kurt Owens, 34
A local retired Army veteran accused of sending revenge porn had his case delayed March 22 so his lawyer could mull options with the prosecution, such as holding the proceedings in veterans court.
Jason Kurt Owens, 34, of Nederland, who appeared in court with his apparent service dog, could face up to two years in prison if convicted of the state jail felony offenses of unlawfully disclosing intimate visual material. According to a probable cause affidavit penned by Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JSCO) Detective Matt Gardner, those included images Owens’ ex didn’t know were being taken.
Gardner received information regarding Owens’ alleged crime Nov. 13, 2019, after a former sexual partner complained that Owens – without her consent – shared intimate recordings. While the complainant told detectives she consented to being recorded at that particular time, the affidavit details, she never gave Owens permission to send screenshots of the video over a Facebook account he controlled under the name “Shea Gotherpes.”
Owens sent the image to an “acquaintance” of his ex, along with statements claiming she had herpes and other derogatory remarks about her and the recipient of the lewd images. Owens threatened to send videos of her ex “destroying” her, according to the affidavit, implying the sender wasn’t Owens. Later threatening messages, as well as a months-long cyber investigation, indicated the sender was Owens.
The recipient of Owens’ lewd images asked the complainant if she was the woman in the images. She confirmed her identity in the video, and that it was recorded Sept. 22, 2019. According to the affidavit, Owens sent another nude image of the complainant to her acquaintance Nov. 10, 2019. However, this screenshot was from a video the complainant didn’t know Owens was recording. The complainant believed Owens concealed his phone or a camera to covertly record their intimate encounter, the affidavit alleges.
Detective Gardner met with Owens Nov. 14, 2019 at the sheriff’s office, where he advised him of the accusation of him unlawfully disclosing intimate visual material – a state jail felony. Owens told Gardner he’d need to hire an attorney and asked to leave. Owens then called the detective to inform him that the charge was actually a misdemeanor before “trying to debate the penal code” with a detective. Owens insisted his alleged illicit acts are made legal based on the fact he and the complainant were in a sexual relationship – to which the detective replied that disclosing intimate visual material of someone without their consent is an offense, no matter their relationship.
Gardner issued a warrant Dec. 4, 2019 to Facebook’s law enforcement portal to search the account accused of sending the intimate material the complainant told officers only she and Owens had access to, according to the affidavit. About a week later, Gardner obtained access to the requested data, which revealed the account was created Nov. 6, 2019 and deactivated eight days later.
The account sent several nude images of the complainant, as well as screenshots of her and Owens – all orchestrated from a Talkatone phone he used a bogus name to buy. Gardner found a subscriber named “Jose Gonez,” using the email address “youshouldrespond19@gmail.com,” was listed as the owner of the phone number. However, Feb. 2020, Gardner learned the IP addresses used multiple times on the phone were tied to a subscriber named Jason Owens.