TAMPA, Fla. — A former U.S. Air Force airman has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for attempting entice a minor to engage in sexual activity following a joint federal investigation with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa and MacDill Air Force Base.
Jonathan Howard Kuykendall, 39, of Tampa, who used the online screen name “Bright Darkness,” was sentenced to 10 years and one month in federal prison and ordered to forfeit his cellphone, which he used in committing the offense. A federal jury found Kuykendall guilty June 26.
According to court documents, Kuykendall was a member of the U.S. Air Force stationed at MacDill Air Force Base. Trial evidence showed that in June 2022, he began messaging someone named “Ms. Glitter” online. Within the first few messages, Ms. Glitter told Kuykendall that she was 14 years old and lived on the base with her single mother. Over the next two weeks, undeterred by her age, Kuykendall groomed Ms. Glitter, gradually introducing sexual topics. He began by talking about cuddling with her and kissing her. From there, he began sending her extremely graphic descriptions of various sex acts he wished to perform with her and numerous explicit images of adults.
This continued until June 24, 2022, when Kuykendall, thinking Ms. Glitter’s mom was not home, agreed to come to her house. Kuykendall, thinking he might be in for a set-up, conducted extensive countersurveillance. He arrived at the house long before planned, drove past the house multiple times, lied to Ms. Glitter about where he was, and paced the parking lot looking into cars. He then took a handful of male enhancement pills and walked up to the home’s back door.
When Kuykendall arrived at Ms. Glitter’s home, he learned that she was actually an undercover federal agent conducting a proactive Internet Crimes Against Children task force operation. He was arrested on scene.
This case was investigated by HSI Tampa, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations’ Detachment 340, and the 6th Security Forces Squadron. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karyna Valdes.
To report any information about human trafficking, child sexual abuse, or the trafficking in child sexual abuse material contact the HSI Tip Line at 877-4-HSI-TIP or report it through the CyberTipline on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s website.