Darrison Hood and Keirsten Hooper

Introduction

Darrison Randall Hood, 21, of Wartburn, Tennessee, and Keirsten Armanda Grace Hooper, 24, of Sunbright, Tennessee, were each sentenced to 180 months — 15 years — in federal prison on October 29, 2026, for sexual exploitation of a child. The two are co-defendants who were charged in the same indictment and pleaded guilty to the same count; WVLT, covering the sentencing, described them as an East Tennessee couple. U.S. District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer imposed the sentences in the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville, and both must additionally serve 10 years of supervised release and comply with Sex Offender Registry requirements.

Background Information

The federal case grew out of an investigation by the FBI — including its Knoxville Resident Agency — the Ninth Judicial District Task Force, and the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, an investigation led by FBI Task Force Officer Cortney Dugger. The inquiry began with a report by a minor female victim, and the conduct underlying the charges took place at Hood’s residence in Morgan County on February 5, 2025, according to The Mountain Press. U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee and FBI Special Agent in Charge Terrence G. Riley, of the Nashville Field Office, made the sentencing announcement.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted and sentenced.

The crime occurred at Hood’s residence in Morgan County on Feb. 5, 2025, and the investigation got started after the minor victim contacted the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office on March 4, 2025, The Mountain Press reported. According to filed court documents, the victim had received a video over Snapchat from an unknown account. The video showed the minor female victim in an intoxicated state being sexually assaulted by Hood and Hooper, and Hooper was seen sexually assaulting the minor victim with a semi-automatic handgun, while the video depicted Hood as the perpetrator recording the assault.

Investigators executed a search warrant at Hood’s residence and located the handgun used in the assault. Hood admitted to investigators that he owned the firearm, produced the Snapchat video, and distributed the video to the minor female victim, stating he had since deleted it. The victim’s report to the sheriff’s office came roughly a month after the assault, and the weapon at the center of the case was recovered from the home where the video was made.

The state track of the case moved first. State charges, including especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, were filed March 12, 2025, and a Morgan County grand jury later returned additional counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and aggravated rape, which Hooper and Hood still face in Morgan County Criminal Court. The federal indictment charged Hooper with sexual exploitation of a child, and charged Hood with sexual exploitation of a child, distribution of child pornography, and possession of and access with intent to view child pornography.

On March 18, 2026, the two appeared before Judge Katherine A. Crytzer at the federal courthouse in Knoxville to plead guilty. Under the plea agreements filed with the court, both agreed to plead guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a child, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a)(e), and in exchange the government agreed to dismiss Hood’s remaining two counts. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kolman read the details of the plea agreements aloud in court, and Hooper and Hood did not dispute any of it when questioned by the judge. Asked how she pleaded, Hooper said, “Guilty, your honor,” and Hood answered, “Guilty,” when his turn came. At that hearing Hooper was 23 and Hood was 20, and both remained in custody pending sentencing.

Public Reaction and Consequences

On October 29, 2026, Judge Crytzer sentenced each of them to 180 months imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release and mandatory compliance with Sex Offender Registry requirements, a term WVLT summarized as 15 years behind bars for each defendant. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, which marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. The sentencing closed the federal track of a case that began with a Snapchat video sent to the victim herself from an unknown account, with the gun used in the assault recovered from Hood’s home.

Current Status

Hood, 21, of Wartburn, and Hooper, 24, of Sunbright, are convicted and sentenced as of October 29, 2026. Each will serve 180 months in federal prison, then 10 years of supervised release, and each will have to register as a sex offender. The release announcing the sentences does not describe any appeal by either defendant. The state charges in Morgan County Criminal Court — especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and aggravated rape, added later by a county grand jury — remain part of the picture described by The Mountain Press, leaving further proceedings possible beyond the completed federal sentences.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Both will spend the next 15 years in federal prison for a crime recorded on video and distributed to its victim through Snapchat, with a decade of supervised release and sex-offender registration waiting on the other side. The plea structure mattered to the outcome: Hood, who was originally charged federally with three counts including distribution of child pornography, resolved all of them by pleading guilty to the single exploitation count under his agreement with the government. The investigation was led by FBI Task Force Officer Cortney Dugger working with the Ninth Judicial District Task Force and the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Kolman under the Project Safe Childhood framework.

Sources

The Mountain Press, “Pair facing federal and state sex crime charges”, October 2026 — source
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Tennessee, “East Tennessee Couple Sentenced To 15 Years For Sexual Exploitation Of A Child”, October 29, 2026 — source
The Mountain Press, “Sex crime defendants plead guilty”, March 22, 2026 — source
WVLT, “East Tennessee couple sentenced for sexual exploitation of a child, DOJ says”, October 29, 2026 — source