Oklahoma man sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for producing child pornography

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Kobe Jace Mahoney, 22, of Seminole, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 336 months in federal prison for sexually exploiting a child by producing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today.

According to court records, in November 2021 investigators learned that Mahoney traveled from Twin Falls, Idaho to Elko, Nevada, to meet a 13-year-old child. Mahoney admitted that he met the child on the Snapchat messaging application. He admitted that he had sexual intercourse with the child in Elko and used his cellphone to make a recording of the acts. Mahoney further admitted that he had engaged in sexual acts with approximately 24 different minor females with ages ranging from 11 to 17 years old in eight different states between August and November 2021. Mahoney claimed he exclusively used the Snapchat messaging application to meet the minor females.

Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Mahoney’s cellphone. Two videos of the sexual acts between Mahoney and the child in Elko were found on the cellphone and were created in the fall of 2021. Messages between Mahoney and the child were also found. The child informed Mahoney that was she was underage prior to his travel from Idaho to Nevada to meet her. Mahoney was previously convicted of rape in Garvin County, Oklahoma.

“Our collective efforts to protect the most vulnerable members of our society, our children, have never been more urgent,” said U.S. Attorney Hurwit. “I thank our federal and local partners for all that they did in this case, and I look forward to working with them to ensure the safety of Idaho’s children.”

“Mahoney is a child predator who will spend the next 28 years behind bars in a federal prison and children across the country are safer because of it,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations operations in the Pacific Northwest. “This sentence is another example of the successful partnerships that exist between HSI and Idaho law enforcement. We are especially appreciative of the work conducted by the Twin Falls Police Department, as the results of this investigation not only lead to a lengthy prison sentence, it has assisted in identifying additional victims of child exploitation.”

U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford also sentenced Mahoney to a lifetime of supervised release, which will commence upon completing his prison sentence. Mahoney will also be required to register as a sex offender.

U.S. Attorney Hurwit thanked Homeland Security Investigations in Boise and Reno, the Twin Falls Police Department, the Twin Falls County Prosecutor’s Office, the Elko County Sheriff’s Office, and the Elko County Prosecutor’s Office for their collaboration and hard work on this case. Law enforcement have identified and interviewed five minor victims in this investigation.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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