Patriot Front member Jared Boyce pleads guilty to child pornography

JaredMichael Boyce. (Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, via AP)

A member of the white nationalist organization Patriot Front has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in Utah as he faces an unrelated, pending case in Idaho for attempting to riot during a an LGBTQ pride event.

Jared Michael Boyce, 28, reached this phase in April, but it was recently reported in local media. He pleaded guilty to nine counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of trafficking in material harmful to minors, according to KSTU. The remaining 13 counts of sexual exploitation would have been dismissed with prejudice. Judgment is scheduled for Tuesday.

Boyce first gained national infamy as one of 31 defendants charged with attempting to riot at last year’s Pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. They were members of the White Nationalist Patriotic Front.

From the police case summary:

Officers received information about a large group of masked individuals similarly dressed and armed with shields entering the back of a U-haul van heading for downtown Coeur d’Alene. The concerned citizen reported this activity while a “pride” event was taking place downtown, leading several nationally known groups to condemn the event on various online social media platforms. Officers believed the intent of these individuals was likely to incite a physical confrontation and cause mayhem. The U-Haul van has been located and an investigative stop has been made. A total of 31 subjects were contacted inside the van. Based on the entire investigation, it was determined that the subjects were part of the “Patriotic Front” and had conspired to use violence and/or the threat of violence to disturb the public peace. ALL 31 were arrested for conspiracy to riot.

His mother, Karen Amsden, told The Daily Beast last year that she gave her son an ultimatum to quit the band or get out of her house. She noted his personal struggles in that he attempted to fill “a void” in his life after his father left the family and came out as gay. He had been looking for “brotherhood” and “some kind of connection” since his teenage years. This search led him into the arms of a racist organization.

According to Amsden, her son told her regarding the Idaho case, “Don’t believe the media, mom. We were just there because they take care of the children.

But Utah cops say Boyce sent a 16-year-old girl explicit photos of himself. Boyce admitted to having “sexually themed conversations about children” in an online chat room and sending sexually explicit photos of children, they said.