When Jordan Stephenson’s phone lit up with the call of an unknown number while she was at work, she did what so many others do: let it ring out.
But when the caller persisted after several ignored calls, the young mom picked up and found herself speaking to an FBI agent.
What came next plunged Jordan, 30, into an unimaginable nightmare, as the officer explained he was at her home in Forsyth County, North Carolina, executing a search warrant over ‘internet activity.’
Panicked and confused, Jordan dropped what she was doing at her job as an in-home carer and made the 10 minute drive across town to get home, where she was greeted by FBI agents who ushered her inside.
There, she learned that her partner Ty had been making and sharing child sex abuse images of their two-year-old daughter.
Jordan Stephenson’s world came crashing down when an agent for the FBI arrived at her home to arrest her partner, Ty
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Jordan, 30, said his sentencing hearing last week was one of the most difficult days of her life
It took a while for Jordan to get a clear picture of what was taking place. She saw her daughter, ‘registered she was okay’, and then saw ‘agents in every room in my home, sifting through all our stuff.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com about Ty’s vile crimes and the horror of learning the truth about her daughter’s biological father, Jordan said: ‘I started having a panic attack.’
‘They told me Ty took off. I was already having a panic attack but it intensified after that. I remember one agent – a woman – helping hold me up as we walked up the stairs.’
‘They eventually asked me if I knew anything about illegal internet activity involving children,’ she said.
‘I almost fell over.’
Ty Stephenson was taken into custody in August 2023, accused of manufacturing, possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material
Jordan said officers kept encouraging her to ‘sit down and drink water’, but she found herself pacing around her house uncontrollably, unable to sit still or truly process the information she’d received.
‘I told him I had no idea what he was talking about. He very casually responded ”no, we know you didn’t know anything about it” and then proceeded to explain to me that Ty was being arrested for CSAM and the victim was our daughter.’
Jordan vaguely remembers a sense of feeling ‘dumbfounded’ and questioning whether they’d made a mistake.
Even at the scene, the FBI agents assured her there was no mistake. They were absolutely confident in their intel.
‘I honestly can’t even describe the disbelief,’ Jordan said. ‘It wasn’t denial, I never thought ”oh, he’s innocent”, it was more disbelief at the whole situation, what was going on.
‘It seemed unreal but real at the same time.’
His victim was the couple’s two-year-old daughter. Ty was the little girl’s biological father, and Jordan thought he was the love of her life
Last week, Ty was sentenced to 35 years in prison plus a lifetime supervision order upon his release.
He accepted a plea deal which saw six charges reduced to just two: one count of manufacturing, and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material.
Ty had quit his job two months prior to his arrest, and Jordan was working as much as she could to support her family. Rather than pay for childcare on one salary, Ty became their daughter’s primary carer during the days that Jordan was working.
According to the original indictment, the first record of Ty’s abuse was in February 2023, followed by further crimes in June and August that year.
‘They caught him, took him to jail, and stayed with me until one of my bosses came to my house to help me,’ Jordan said.
Jordan had just arrived in North Carolina at the time of Ty’s arrest, and didn’t know anybody beyond her two bosses.
‘I still have flashbacks to this day,’ she said.
Ty was sentenced to 35 years in prison plus a lifetime supervision order upon his release, after accepting a plea deal which saw six charges reduced to just two: one count of manufacturing, and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material
According to the original indictment, the first record of Ty’s abuse was in February 2023, followed by further crimes in June and August that year
Trying to rebuild
Jordan has detailed to DailyMail.com how her life was shattered by Ty’s vile crimes.
She and her now three-year-old daughter are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives and rebuild.
Ty was the little girl’s biological father, and Jordan thought he was the love of her life.
Making the entire horrifying ordeal worse is that Jordan and her daughter are ‘trapped in this apartment where everything occurred.’
Jordan simply doesn’t have the finances to up and move.
She pours all of her resources into making sure her daughter gets the treatment and help she needs to process the gravity of the situation and move on.
The mother-of-one has set up a GoFundMe account to help stay afloat, noting that while his ‘arrest is a blessing, it has caused massive financial strain.’
‘I’ve been fighting for my life to get her the help, safety, security and stability she needs,’ Jordan said.
‘She has an amazing therapist, we both do. I’ve utilized social media in an attempt to save us from losing all of the things that meet our basic needs.
‘We still have a long road ahead of us.’
Ty had quit his job two months prior to his arrest, and Jordan was working as much as she could to support her family. Rather than pay for childcare on one salary, Ty became their daughter’s primary carer during the days that Jordan was working