When Jordan Stephenson’s phone lit up with a call from an unknown number while he was at work, he did what so many others do: he let it ring.
But when the caller insisted after several ignored calls, the young mother answered and found herself speaking to an FBI agent.
What came next plunged Jordan, 30, into an unimaginable nightmare, as the officer explained that he was at his home in Forsyth County, North Carolina, executing a search warrant for “internet activity.”
Panicked and confused, Jordan stopped what she was doing at her job as a home caregiver and made the 10-minute drive across town to get home, where she was met by FBI agents who escorted her inside.
There, he learned that his partner Ty had been creating and sharing images of child sexual abuse of his two-year-old daughter.
Jordan Stephenson’s world came crashing down when an FBI agent arrived at his home to arrest his partner, Ty.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Jordan, 30, said his sentencing hearing last week was one of the most difficult days of his life.
It took a while for Jordan to get a clear idea of what was happening. He saw his daughter, “realized she was okay” and then saw “agents in every room of my house, going through all of our things.”
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 left. I was already having a panic attack but it intensified after that. I remember one officer, a woman, helped hold me up as we walked up the stairs.
“At the end they asked me if I knew anything about illegal Internet activities involving children,” he said.
“I almost fell.”
Ty Stephenson was arrested in August 2023, accused of manufacturing, possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.
Jordan said the officers kept encouraging her to “sit down and drink water,” but she found herself pacing uncontrollably around her house, unable to sit still or really process the information she had received.
“I told him I had no idea what he was talking about. He very casually replied “no, we know you didn’t know anything about it” and then proceeded to explain to me that Ty was being arrested by CSAM and that the victim was our daughter.
Jordan vaguely remembers a feeling of feeling “flabbergasted” and wondering if they had made a mistake.
Even at the scene, FBI agents assured him there was no mistake. They had absolute confidence in their information.
“Honestly, I 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 happening.”
“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 in which six charges were reduced to just two: one count of manufacturing and one count of possession of child sexual abuse material.
Ty had quit his job two months before his arrest and Jordan was working as much as he could to support his family. Instead of paying for childcare on a single salary, Ty became his daughter’s primary caregiver during the days Jordan worked.
According to the original indictment, Ty’s first record of abuse was in February 2023, followed by new crimes in June and August of 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 anyone beyond his two bosses.
“I still have memories to this day,” he said.
Ty was sentenced to 35 years in prison plus a life supervision order upon his release, after accepting a plea deal that reduced six charges to just two: one count of manufacturing and one count of possession of child sexual abuse material. .
According to the original indictment, Ty’s first record of abuse was in February 2023, followed by more crimes in June and August of 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 put them back together.
Ty was the girl’s biological father and Jordan thought he was the love of her life.
To make the whole ordeal worse, Jordan and her daughter are “trapped in this apartment where it all happened.”
Jordan simply doesn’t have the finances to up and move.
She dedicates all of her resources to making sure her daughter receives the treatment and help she needs to process the seriousness of the situation and move forward.
The mother of one has created a GoFundMe account to help stay afloat, noting that while his “arrest is a blessing, it has caused enormous financial strain.”
“I’ve been fighting for my life to get him the help, safety and stability he needs,” Jordan said.
‘She has an amazing therapist, we both do. I have used social media in an attempt to save us from losing all the things that meet our basic needs.
“We still have a long way to go.”
Ty had quit his job two months before his arrest and Jordan was working as much as he could to support his family. Instead of paying for childcare on a single salary, Ty became his daughter’s primary caregiver during the days Jordan worked.