A major sex trafficking case that languished in the South Carolina court system for more than four years concluded anticlimactically last summer when a 46-year-old white disc jockey received a reduced sentence after pleading guilty to 13 felony charges of having sex with children, including hundreds of underage Black girls.
As part of a deal with prosecutors, Jason Roger Pope, once known as “DJ Kidd,” confessed in August 2023 to five counts of sex trafficking of a minor, five counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, and three counts of criminal sexual conduct, according to South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.
But instead of Pope being sent away for the rest of his life, Judge Brian Gibbons suspended a 30-year prison term for the defendant in favor of 19 years behind bars — which was a far lighter punishment than prosecutors initially desired for the man who admitted to prostituting and having sex with 693 underage Black girls between 2017 and 2019, while intentionally infecting at least one of his young victims with HIV, prosecutors said.
The judge did order strict probation conditions for Pope following his eventual release from prison, which are designed to protect the public, including a requirement that Pope be monitored around the clock for at least five years by special agents dedicated to supervising sex offenders.
If Pope violates his probation, he’ll be sent back to prison for 10 years, which is essentially the length of time the judge suspended from his original sentence.
Moreover, Pope will be required to register as a sex offender, which will place his name into a national database to alert communities around his chosen place of residence.
A permanent restraining order will bar him from contacting his victims.
“Several victims had statements presented to the court about how this defendant’s actions affected them,” the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office said previously in a statement, according to local news reports. “They are relieved this chapter is closed and Pope is in prison.”
Pope was arrested in Sept. 12, 2019, after authorities found evidence he had lured teen girls through his social media pages, using his charming public persona as a front for sex.
In one case, Pope recruited an underage girl on social media with the intent of using her to enrich himself through commercial sex acts, prosecutors alleged.
After courting the girl and gaining her trust, authorities said he confined the victim to a room at a home in Darlington, where he forced her to perform sex acts “with intent to extort and threaten the victim” to continue in the sexual arrangement with him.
For nearly four years following his arrest, the legal case remained stalled, while Pope remained held at the Florence County Detention Center without bond.
He ultimately pleaded guilty on August 30, 2023.
Three years earlier, in January 2020, Pope was indicted on 14 charges, including criminal sexual misconduct, promoting prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, and other offenses.
The highly anticipated trial, however, never materialized as the judge granted continuances that gave the defense extra time so that the defendant could be evaluated mentally, and soon thereafter a psychiatric expert diagnosed Pope with autism.
As a result, Pope’s lawyers quickly filed motions claiming he was incompetent to stand trial.
During a bond hearing in December 2021, Pope’s attorney claimed their client had the mind of a teenager and deserved to be set free.
However, prosecutors argued that Pope was still trying to contact and intimidate victims from his jail cell, and bond was denied.
Later, a psychologist for the prosecution also determined Pope was competent, but before the trial was set to begin, Pope surprised everybody last August and pleaded guilty, ensuring he would walk free again despite the gravity of his crimes.
As the case dragged out, voices on the social media circuit clamored for justice as the continued delays in Pope’s trial stretched beyond three years, leading one TikTok user to ask rhetorically, “Why is he still alive?”
“What’s taking so long to get this man the electric chair?” EmancipationofBee asked at the time.
Pope worked for years as a DJ in Florence County and used his trade to take advantage of young girls, police said. Through his job, he was able to promote teen dance parties and regularly marketed the events on social media.
Pope had more than a dozen run-ins with law enforcement related to his involvement with a number of young girls, dating back to December 2011.
One of the earliest incidents involved a 13-year-old girl who claimed she had unprotected sex with Pope, only to later discover that he had AIDS.
The young victim said she met Pope through a mutual friend, and soon Pope began plying her with drugs and booze until the two had sex.
In a similar case, another victim accused Pope of paying her for sex and then blackmailing her to keep the illicit arrangement going.
Some victims described the feeling of being spellbound or “brainwashed” by Pope’s predatory behavior as he regularly gave them money or provided drugs and alcohol, while at least one girl acknowledged to investigators that most of the sex between them was what she considered to be consensual.
Other female victims alleged Pope held them against their will so he could have his way with them on a regular basis.
Evidence photos collected from the suspect’s Facebook page showed an array of sexually suggestive photos featuring Pope in lascivious poses with scantily clad Black girls.
A viral TikTok video also helped build the case against Pope
During the investigation, authorities sought the public’s help in locating others who might be connected to the human trafficking cases in Florence, leading to many hundreds of girls coming forward.
