CINCINNATI – A 20-year-old Norwood man accused of kidnapping a 14-year-old girl and raping her multiple times appeared in federal court Friday on related charges that could send him to prison for life.
While Cody Lee Jackson pleaded not guilty, the U.S. attorney said Jackson had been calling and threatening the girl from jail by using another inmate’s “pin number” on a calling card. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Bowman ordered Jackson not to have contact with the girl.
Jackson was on electronic monitoring in another abduction case last year when he had taxis drop off the 14-year-old at his Norwood apartment for sex. He later held her captive for months while raping her, according to criminal charges and court records.
Federal authorities said in an affidavit that Jackson had a 20-year-old woman keep an eye on the girl and take her out of Jackson's apartment when he was checked by monitoring officials.
Sheriff's spokesman Michael Robison confirmed that Jackson wore the monitoring device from Jan. 22, 2015 until July 31, 2015.
"We conducted our typical unscheduled and unannounced home visits," Robison said. "He was required to report weekly to his assigned officer, which he did, and he complied with all other conditions."
Jackson fled the state without the girl after pleading guilty in the previous abduction case to a charge of interference with custody. In that case, Jackson held two victims against their will after meeting at least one of them on Facebook, police said. Charges of abduction and kidnapping were dismissed, court records show.
Federal authorities caught Jackson in October at a Utah bus station. He tried to run away after giving a fake name to drug task force officers conducting a routine stop, according to jail documents. They charged him with coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and production of child pornography.
Federal court documents say Jackson met the 14-year-old through Facebook in February. By March, he would no longer let her leave his apartment "unless it was with him or at his direction," according to the documents. He punished her physically for violations of rules he set for her that included no talking to other men and no showering or using the restroom without permission, the documents say. She became pregnant after being at Jackson's apartment for nearly two months, authorities said in the affidavit.
The FBI affidavit says Jackson was taken off electronic monitoring after he entered the guilty plea in the previous abduction case on July 31. He fled Ohio prior to his sentencing in August.
Documents say Jackson phoned the girl after he left Ohio and threatened to kill her and her family if she didn't take sexually explicit photos of herself and send them to him on Facebook, where he allegedly used his Facebook accounts to transfer the pornographic images.
If convicted, Jackson faces 10 years to life in prison on the federal charges. Coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity carries a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life. Production of child pornography is punishable by 15 to 30 years.
Jackson still faces state charges of rape, kidnapping, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and interference with custody in connection with the 14-year-old, plus sentencing on the previous interference conviction.
