Jacob Seth Thornton, 29, of Lubbock, Texas, was sentenced this morning [Friday] by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 188 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in September 2015 to one count of receiving a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Judge Cummings ordered Thornton to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on February 12.
According to plea documents filed in his case, Thornton kept a laptop at his residence that he used to, among other things, search the Internet for images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Thornton used peer-to-peer file sharing software to receive the seven images described in the indictment, as well as many others.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy prosecuted the case.
(Press release from office of U.S. Attorney)
