Kyle Colton was convicted Thursday of possession of images that exploited a child, and he marks the fourth person pardoned by President Donald Trump to face charges involving some form of child abuse.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, posted the note Friday on Bluesky, citing Politico legal reporter Kyle Cheney.
As Cheney noted, Colton was the one who claimed that Trump's pardon covered his possession of the images.
The rest of the men include David Daniel, who was alleged to have been part of the group attempting to break the barricade into the U.S. Senate on Jan. 6. He pleaded guilty only to resisting police officers. However, he's still in police custody despite Trump's pardon. Charges were brought against him in 2004 for "possession of child sexual abuse material."
Another is Andrew Taake, a Houston, Texas man, who was arrested on an outstanding child sex crimes charge, the Texas Tribune reported earlier this year.
Taake was said to be among the men who used bear spray on police officers on Jan. 6. He also used a metal whip on the police. He bragged about his actions on Jan. 6 to a woman he met on an online dating site.
He was charged with the online solicitation of a minor in a 2016 incident in which he was accused of sending explicit messages to an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl.
Matthew Huttle "has an extensive criminal history that demonstrates a pattern and practice of disrespecting and disobeying the rule of law, which is consistent with his actions on January 6, 2021," prosecutors alleged in his Jan. 6 case. Among them was a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for beating his 3-year-old son so severely that he had bruises on his backside and neck. It left him unable to sit properly.
His anti-police sentiment resulted in him being shot to death during a police traffic stop just days after he got his pardon from Trump, the Associated Press reported at the time.
Scott Thomas Provost, another Texas man, was convicted in 2023 of the receipt and possession of images exploiting a child.
He was sentenced "to serve 240 months for receiving the images and 120 months for possessing them."
At one point, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani wrote, “Provost amassed one of the most extensive collections of child pornography videos and images we have seen in this district. Each and every one of the files he had in his possession represents significant trauma and suffering to real children. Today’s sentence demonstrates our commitment to stop those who partake and assist others in viewing child pornography and the continued cycle of abuse these children endure.”
