Man arrested for child sexual abuse, pornography

Jonathon Hayward is being held on $200,000 bond at Ketchikan Correctional Center, charged with five counts of first degree sexual abuse and four counts of exploitation of a minor, as well as ten counts of possessing child pornography.
Hayward is being kept at the Ketchikan Correctional Center. (Photo courtesy Alaska Department of Corrections)

Juneau and Ketchikan police are investigating sexual abuse of a young girl that went on for two years before anyone reported it.

Forty-three year old Jonathan Hayward is being held on $200,000 bond at Ketchikan Correctional Center, charged with five counts of first degree sexual abuse and four counts of exploitation of a minor, as well as ten counts of possessing child pornography. All are felonies.

Hayward was arrested early Friday morning in Ketchikan after an investigation that stemmed from the spontaneous disclosure by the child to her baby sitter’s medical provider. The complaint was taken to the state Office of Children’s Services and law enforcement.

Juneau Police Lt. Kris Sell says during the investigation, the girl said she had told another adult about the abuse, but that person did not take action and it continued. The girl is now 7 years old. She says the girl’s family moved back and forth between Juneau and Ketchikan.

Sell says the police department is bringing the case to the public’s attention because it’s important that people who hear about child abuse know what to do.

“You don’t want to react with shock or negativity towards the child, because then you’ve told them it’s not ok to tell,” she says.

Sell says most people wonder what to do and if the abuse is really happening.

“We’re here to tell people yes, it is happening. It’s happening all over Juneau, it’s happening in households we don’t even know about, and if a child is disclosing to a stranger they’re trusting that somebody at some point is going to help them,” she says.

Sell says it’s very important the abuse be immediately reported to law enforcement or OCS.

The statewide Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is involved in the investigation. Headquartered in Anchorage, the agency is analyzing multiple electronic devices picked up in the case. A Juneau police detective regularly works with the task force on child pornography cases.

Sell says the Internet group often brings cases to Juneau’s attention.

“We have a lot of Internet traffic in Juneau. We have a lot pornography that’s going back and forth that Anchorage is finding, you know they’re giving us hits,” she says. “They’re working with us on cases like this one where there’s a lot of electronics to be analyzed and also there’s child porn that was trafficked that we’re finding in different cases.”

Lt. Sell says additional charges against Hayward are anticipated as the Internet search continues.

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