United States of America v. Johnston Blackhorse

St. George, Utah, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with possession of child pornography.

In February 2025, while serving a lifetime of supervised release for prior child sex crimes, two probation officers conducted a home visit where Johnston Blackhorse, 42, lived alone in Aneth, Utah.. Pursuant to Blackhorse’s supervised release conditions, the officers conducted an examination of Blackhorse’s computer. Officers discovered that a forensic wiping program had been installed and used on the computer the day of the probation visit. Officers conducted a more thorough examination of the computer and located several files depicting child sexual abuse material in a deleted space. As a result, a search warrant was secured, and the computer was examined by a forensic examiner with Homeland Security Investigations. The examination revealed six images of child sexual abuse material all in a deleted space on the computer. An original file path also showed the file originally existed under Blackhorse’s username, in his Mozilla Firefox folders, and came from child pornography websites. Additional evidence also showed Blackhorse used the computer to access other child pornography files located on a separate electronic storage device that was not recovered during the search of his residence.

Blackhorse’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 18, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. before a U.S. District Court Judge in courtroom 2B at the courthouse located at 206 West Tabernacle Street, St. George, Utah 84470.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah made the announcement.

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations.

Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Burton and Joseph M. Hood of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah are prosecuting the case.

A jury found the Defendant guilt.