Benjamin F. Sexton Jr., 48, who lives in the Jefferson County portion of Fenton, has admitted to sexually abusing two girls over a seven-year period. Both girls were younger than 16, according to court records.
Sexton on Aug. 29 pleaded guilty to federal charges of production of child pornography, coercion and enticement of a minor and receipt of child pornography. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 2, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office reported.
Assistant U.S. attorney Jillian Anderson will recommend Sexton be sentenced to 27 years in prison, according to the report.
Sexton also is facing felony charges in Jefferson County for the abuse of one of the victims.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in December 2023 charged Sexton with seven counts of first-degree rape or attempted statutory rape of a person younger than 14 years old; five counts of statutory sodomy or attempted statutory sodomy deviant sexual intercourse with a person younger than 14 years old; and one count of first-degree statutory sodomy with deviant sexual intercourse with a person younger than 14 years old, all unclassified felonies; as well as one count of first-degree child molestation, a class B felony; and one count of second-degree statutory rape, a class D felony, court records show.
Each of the unclassified felonies is punishable by five years to life in prison. The class B felony is punishable by five to 15 years in prison, and the class D felony carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison.
According to the guilty plea and probable-cause statement in the Jefferson County case, the abuse of one of the girls began in 2016 and occurred at hotels in St. Louis County and Eureka, other locations in Fenton and the Jefferson County portion of Fenton, as well as in other parts of Jefferson County, St. Louis County and Franklin County.
The guilty plea document said Sexton and the girl were seen in surveillance video at two different hotels in 2022 and 2023.
Sexton allegedly filmed the sexual assaults and showed the girl pornographic videos. The girl also said Sexton coerced her into sending nude photos of herself to him through Snapchat, according to the probable-cause statement.
The girl said Sexton often gave her drugs, and a hair follicle from the girl was tested and came back positive for methamphetamine, the report said.
Sexton used meth in the past, the probable-cause statement said.
In the guilty plea, Sexton admitted to abusing another girl in 2014. Investigators confirmed Sexton brought that girl to a hotel room in July 2014, and they found pornographic images of the girl on Sexton’s Google account.
Sexton is scheduled to appear in Jefferson County Court on Oct. 14, court records show.