‘Whisper’ Teen Meetup Suspect Skips Straight to County Court

LIVINGSTON COUNTY – The Webster resident accused of sending indecent materials to a minor chose to skip grand jury proceedings and head straight to County Court.

Jason Korts, 41, is now facing two counts of felony Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to a Minor and one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

“The information that I have on this indicates something awful and that you’re a scary person,” said Cohen to Korts, who stood in a suit and tie with hands folded in front of him.

Skipping grand jury proceedings and moving the case from York Town Court to Livingston County Court means that a grand jury will not review the evidence of the case and decide whether the case should proceed to County Court on the current charges, other charges, or not at all.

It is alleged that Korts made contact with a 15-year-old girl living in Livingston County through ‘Whisper,’ an anonymous social networking app. The two apparently met on Aug. 16, where he allegedly asked her to perform sex acts on him, and that was when her parents contacted law enforcement.

From that point, the Sheriff’s Office says that their investigators took control of the phone with the app on it and continued conversation with Korts for several days. A meeting was set up for Aug. 23, where Korts thought he was going to return to Livingston County and meet again with the girl. When he arrived in the Town of York, Sheriff’s investigators arrested him.

Assistant District Attorney Victor Rowcliffe said that the DA’s Office is pursuing a sentence of four months in jail.

“I haven’t agreed to a disposition on this,” said Cohen. Cohen added that a pre-plea investigation and report, involving interviews and investigation by Livingston County Probation, would give the court a better understanding of the case and Korts.

Korts’ attorney, Michael Scibetta, said that he would like to be notified when the pre-plea investigation is to be done to decide if he should attend.

Korts is currently out of custody on $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond. He is scheduled to return to County Court at a later date.