When Police Seized Jason Lytton's Devices, They Found Hundreds of Disturbing Images and Videos
Ashley Lytton took the rage she felt towards her husband, and helped put him away.
Published July 17 2024, 1:21 p.m. ET
Report online or in-person sexual abuse of a child or teen by calling the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 or visiting childhelp.org. Learn more about the warning signs of child abuse at RAINN.org.
Content Warning: This article contains mention of child abuse.
In May 2023, Season 2 of the hit true-crime podcast Betrayal premiered with another shocking story that revolves around sickness and secrets. The series focused on Ashley Lytton's husband, who was by all accounts a great guy. Jason Lytton pursued Ashley then married her three years after they met, and never once treated her children like they weren't his own.
The couple then welcomed their own son into the world, and were living what some would describe as a charmed life in Riverton, Utah. Things changed when Ashley made a horrifying discovery after innocently logging into Jason's iCloud account. What did she find? The word betrayal doesn't even begin to cover it.
Ashley Lytton's husband was hiding something horrible from his family.
Ashley found a secret folder in Jason's iCloud account that authorities later said contained over 1,000 pictures of young girls as well as a few homemade videos. According to the arrest affidavit obtained by ABC 4, Ashley told police that the "photos appeared to be of girls between the ages of 8 and 15 years old."
When she stumbled upon this horrific situation, Ashley first reached out to Jason's brother who got in touch with him. Jason tried apologizing directly to Ashley but by this time she had already spoken with police and was in the process of setting up a sting operation. She agreed to meet Jason in a Walmart parking lot because it was neutral. It was there that police arrested Jason and charged him with 100 counts of felony sexual exploitation of a minor.
Where is Jason Lytton now?
The arrest occurred in October 2021 and by November the following year, Jason was sentenced to "just under a year in Salt Lake County Jail and 48 months of probation after accepting a plea deal in a Salt Lake County Third District Court," per ABC 4. Jason was originally indicted on 10 second-degree felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, one third-degree felony charge of obstructing justice, and two Class A misdemeanor charges of voyeurism by concealed or disguised electronic equipment.
As part of the plea deal, most of those charges were dismissed and Jason was ultimately found guilty of one sexual exploitation charge and two voyeurism charges. After credit for time already served, Jason only spent 329 days in Salt Lake City County Jail and was given 48 months of supervised probation.
Jason is not allowed access to the internet, and had to complete a "cognitive behavior treatment program, a mental health evaluation, as well as participate in a parenting class and abide by Group A Sex Offender conditions." As of the time of this writing, he is registered as a sex offender and is living in Herriman, Utah.
