A viral TikTok video is resurfacing the issue of the criminal case against a man who is charged with preying on underage Black girls.
Jason Roger Pope, 45, a South Carolina disc jockey who went by “DJ Kidd,” is facing 19 charges, including human trafficking, but he is accused of prostituting and having sex with hundreds of underage Black girls. Allegations also accuse Pope of intentionally infecting his victims with the HIV/AIDS virus between 2011 and 2019.
“Let’s find some justice for these 693 Black little girls who were taken advantage of, raped and given HIV AIDS by a freaking monster,” TikTok user EmancipationofBee said in a video posted on Jan. 20. A Facebook screenshot of a post attributed to Pope from years before his current charges shows him bragging, “I’m 36 with 693 BODIES (All Black females), WBU?”
Pope was a local DJ in Florence County, South Carolina, who often promoted parties. He regularly posted on social media, posing with Black girls and teens at his events. Some of his earliest allegations of criminal sexual conduct arose in December 2011, when he was accused of having unprotected sex with a 13-year-old girl, exposing her to the HIV/AIDS virus.
Although allegations go back further, WPDE reports police warrants alleged Pope “recruited women and underage girls and had sex with them on various occasions between September 2017 and July 2019, providing the victims with money and gifts in exchange.” They also alleged Pope “held some of his victims against their wills” in order to have sex.
One of Pope’s young victims accused him of giving her drugs and alcohol so she would have sex with him, WBMF reported.
Pope was arrested for his alleged crimes on Sept. 12, 2019, despite years of allegations. His charges include kidnapping, trafficking, prostitution and criminal sexual conduct. He is still incarcerated at the Florence County Detention Center.
Pope’s neighbor, who didn’t want to be named, told WMBF in 2019, “Seeing who he had next door, these young girls they looked like there were very young, underage maybe, and they stayed over there some and then they’d disappear.”
KTPM reports that the Florence County Sheriff’s Office provided records of 14 incidents from December 2011 to April 2019.
Rumors have swirled regarding claims Pope’s father would bail him out of any legal trouble if
authorities ever caught him.
“Per his victims, the reason he stated he would get away with this is because his father is a federal judge,” EmancipationofBee said in her viral TikTok video.
Some details about his father were revealed during a December 2021 bond hearing. Pope’s attorney, Rosemary Parham, said, “Pope’s father recently died of cancer, and his mother had been caring for him for the past year and a half until his death,” WPDE reported.
While unconfirmed by Pope’s attorney, on June 29, 2021, Roger E. Pope died in hospice care. In an obituary, it indicates Pope owned a barbeque restaurant. The obituary also lists surviving relatives.
“Roger is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 54 years, Sheryl J. Pope, and his son Jason Pope of Florence, SC.,” the obituary said.
“I live in Florence SC, and his father was not a judge. His name was Roger Pope, and he owned Roger’s BBQ and Woodstone BBQ here,” one TikTok user said.
Pope’s latest charges are still pending, prompting people online to question the delay.
“Why is he still alive,” one TikTok user asked.
“What’s taking so long to get this man the electric chair?” EmancipationofBee asked in her video.
During the December 2021 bond hearing, Pope’s attorney claimed he had the mind of a teenager.
“He has the mentality of a teenager,” Parham said as she unsuccessfully tried to get the court to grant Pope a bond.
Prosecutors claimed during that hearing that Pope was intimidating his victims while behind bars.
“From jail, where he is right now, he is getting the word out, and still trying to intimidate victims. He does not recognize that anything he did was wrong,” South Carolina Deputy Attorney General Heather Weiss said.
“This is absolutely horrific. Absolute mishandling of justice and only because these are Black young girls. This is terrible. I’m disgusted,” a TikTok user commented after learning of the case.
For more than a year, Pope’s case has seen little movement. Parham sent a Notice of Case Roster Publication between Dec. 29, 2022, and Jan. 17 for some of his trafficking charges.
Notice of Case Roster Publication falls under nonjury motions, where specific points of law are brought before a judge before a case goes to trial.
Neither Pope’s attorney nor the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office immediately returned Atlanta Black Star’s requests for comment on latest developments.
There remains no word on when Pope’s trial will take place.
