Girl held captive 4 months in Norwood
Update March 3, 2017: After his arrest more than a year ago, Cody Jackson remains in custody. His federal case is still pending, and no date has been set for his trial.
Jackson now faces an additional federal charge of tampering with a witness after investigators said repeatedly made threatening and harassing telephone calls to a juvenile in an attempt to delay or prevent testimony in a criminal trial.
It is unclear if the subject of the phone calls was the victim in his ongoing trial.
Original reporting, Oct. 14, 2015 : Cody Lee Jackson is currently in the custody of the state. He still has pending charges on the federal level, and there’s currently no trial date set for the federal case.
A 14-year-old girl was held captive for months earlier this year in Norwood by a man who was under electronic monitoring while he awaited court action in another abduction case, authorities said Wednesday.
The girl, who became pregnant by him during her captivity, only became free when the man was convicted in the earlier case and fled the state when authorities stopped monitoring his movements, Federal Bureau of Investigation officials said.
Now, the man has been arrested in Utah and will be brought back to Ohio to face charges in connection with the teen's abduction, authorities said.
Cody Jackson, 20, faces federal charges of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and production of child pornography.
In addition to federal charges, Jackson is also facing four counts of rape, one count of kidnapping, four counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor and one count of interference with custody brought by the Norwood police and the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office.
This is the third federal case involving coercion and enticement to come to light in the past week locally. Nicholas Kurtz of Warren County is accused of using the Internet to blackmail underage girls for nude photos and videos. Bryan Harris of Blue Ash is accused of using Facebook to harass more than 15 teens for sex and pictures.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Muncy said the cases are not connected, and it's coincidental they were announced so close together. She noted the arrest dates and circumstances of the cases all happened over the course of two years or longer.
In Jackson's case, he'd been placed on electronic monitoring by the Hamilton County courts in September 2014 after being charged with interference with custody, abduction and kidnapping. Jackson was accused of holding two females against their will in Blue Ash in August 2014, according to court records. He paid a $100,000 bond and was released with an electronic monitor that tracked his movements.
While awaiting resolution of the criminal case, he lived in a Norwood apartment at an address that has not been made public. During this time period, he contacted a 14-year-old girl on Facebook in February, according to the FBI investigation.
Authorities gave this account of what happened next:
He asked to meet her and arranged to have a taxi pick her up.
The suspect arranged for taxi trips almost every other day for three weeks because he couldn't leave his home due to the monitoring. He had sex with the teen during each visit.
The suspect took control of the girl's social media and email and bought her a phone to use, according to the investigation. He also created rules for her to follow.
In March, the teen visited the Jackson and wasn't allowed to leave, the FBI stated.
Jackson is accused of dictating more rules for the teen related to showering, her clothing and contact with her family. He would verbally abuse her and came to physically abuse her as well, authorities say.
After 1 1/2 months of almost daily sex with the suspect, the teen became pregnant. The suspect was aided by an acquaintance who would take the girl out of the apartment at times when police might discover her presence.
In July, Jackson pleaded guilty to a charge of interference of custody in connection with the 2014 Blue Ash incident. The other charges were dropped, and he was taken off electronic monitoring.
At this point, he fled the state. It was then the teen was able to escape the Norwood apartment with the help of the landlord, according to the FBI investigation. It was not clear Wednesday when she or her family approached authorities about her captivity.
Authorities did say that while he was on the run, the suspect threatened to kill the teen and her family if she didn't continue to send nude photos to him.
Jackson is undergoing the extradition process from Utah, Muncy said. Court dates have yet to be scheduled.
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