San Juan County man given 16 years for possessing child sex abuse material

ANETH, San Juan County — A San Juan County man was sentenced to 16 years in prison for possessing child sexual abuse material.

Johnston Blackhorse, 43, of Aneth, was convicted by a federal jury in April for receipt and possession of explicit photos of children. At the time of his offense, he was already on supervised release for a 2015 conviction of possession of child sex abuse material, federal prosecutors said.

He was put on lifetime probation after serving his 2015 sentence, and in 2017, he told his probation officer he intended to draw and sell explicit images of children, federal prosecutors said in a motion for detention. The court told Blackhorse he was not allowed to do that, but a few weeks later, he was arraigned for being in possession of obscene drawings of children, the motion said.

At a revocation hearing, Blackhorse admitted to creating the drawings and identified himself as "an untreatable pedophile and said his drawings allowed him to express his pedophilia in a way that he believed did not cause any harm," federal prosecutors said.

Blackhorse was sent back to prison for six more months. When he was released in 2018, he was enrolled in the Tribal Community Reentry Court, prosecutors said. His probation home visits were conducted at the same time as the reentry court's hearing because he lives in a remote area, residing within Indian County near Aneth.

In February 2025, two probation officers were conducting a home visit at Blackhorse's residence when they examined his computer. Officers discovered the computer had a forensic wiping program installed that had been used that day, according to prosecutors.

Blackhorse denied knowledge of the wiping program, and the computer was seized. A more thorough forensic examination of the computer revealed six images of child sex abuse material in a deleted space, court documents said.

On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison plus lifetime probation.

"My office is committed to protecting our communities, particularly our most vulnerable," said U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah. "Blackhorse's pattern of criminal behavior makes clear that he remains a dangerous offender with a significant likelihood of recidivism. This result reflects our trial team's exceptional diligence, skill and dedication to keeping children safe."