SALYERSVILLE – A former Herald Whitaker Middle School teacher took a plea deal in Magoffin County Circuit Court last week, accepting five years in prison on charges related to inappropriate communications with a juvenile.
Jordan Cobb, 32, of Coon Creek Rd., in Salyersville, appeared in court on Thursday, March 19, and pleaded guilty to one count of procuring the use of a minor by electronic means (Class D felony) and one count of harassing communications (Class B misdemeanor).
Under the terms of his plea agreement with Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office, which was prosecuting the case, Cobb agreed to a 5-year sentence and will be ineligible for probation. The sentence will run concurrent with federal charges related to the same investigation. In January this year, Cobb was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge David Bunning to 132 months in prison for the charge of attempted online enticement of a minor, with the judge accepting the plea agreement. Under federal law, Cobb must serve 85% of his federal prison sentence, and, upon release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 10 years.
According to charges filed in Magoffin County Circuit Court, in May 2023, Cobb used Snapchat to communicate with a 14-year-old former student. He sent pictures of his genitalia and messages to the student, encouraging her to have sexual intercourse with him. A year later, he sent threatening messages to the same victim through Facebook.
“It takes extraordinary courage for a young person to speak out—especially when it means standing up to someone in power. I commend this brave young woman and our law enforcement and prosecutor partners who worked to ensure this predator is behind bars,” said Attorney General Coleman.
Kentucky State Police investigated the case and Assistant Attorney General Ramsey Dallam prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth.
Magoffin County Commonwealth Attorney Todd Martin turned the case over to the Attorney General’s office for prosecution due to knowing some of the people related to the case.
Cobb will be sentenced June 5 in Magoffin County Circuit Court.
At press time, Cobb is being held at the Ashland Federal Correction Institution, the low security federal prison in Ashland, Kentucky.
Related Case
Federally indicted at the same time as Cobb, Jason W. Back, 43, also of Salyersville and a former teacher at Magoffin County High School, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty via a plea agreement last month to the federal charge of online enticement, the same federal charge as Cobb.
According to Back’s plea deal, from between March 6 through 9, 2023, in Magoffin County, Back persuaded the minor to engage in sexual activity, specifying that he was a high school teacher when he engaged in a text message conversation with a 17-year-old student, sending a series of sexually explicit messages using his iPhone, including messages outline a plan to meet for unprotected sex on March 9, 2023. According to the plea agreement, the prosecution has evidence that shows Back picked up the minor and that the two had sexual intercourse in Back’s car.
Back’s plea agreement also indicated that, through a pattern of messages sent by Back, who was in a position of authority or special trust as a teacher, enticed the minor to engage in sexual intercourse, which would constitute a charge of third-degree rape.
Back is set for sentencing in his federal case for May 4 at 11 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Ashland, before Chief District Judge David L. Bunning.
He is currently in custody at the Boyd County Detention Center, being held for U.S. Marshals.
Back is also facing charges in Magoffin County Circuit Court, having been indicted in March 2025 by a Magoffin County grand jury, charged with two counts of third-degree rape (Class D felonies), third-degree sodomy (Class D felony), and two counts of procuring or promoting the use of a minor by electronic means (Class D felonies).
According to the indictment, Back allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old, being in a position of authority and coming into contact with the minor under 18 years old as a result of that position, with count 1 stemming from February 1 through February 28, 2023, and count 2 from March 5 through 9.
The indictment alleges Back, on or about March 5, 2023, reportedly engaged in deviant sexual intercourse with the 17-year-old.
Counts 4 and 5 against Back allege he unlawfully used a cell phone for procuring the use of the minor in a sexual performance, with one dated for on or about March 6 through 9, 2023, and the other on or about March 7, 2023.
The Kentucky Attorney General’s Office is also prosecuting Back’s local case.
Editor’s Note: The indictment or charge of a person by a grand jury or otherwise is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
