California Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Child Exploitation Offenses

David Michael Thompson, a 27-year old resident of Temecula, California, was sentenced today in United States District Court for transporting child pornography and for traveling in interstate commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor child. Thompson was sentenced to a total of 210 months in federal prison (sentences of 210 and 180 months ordered to run concurrently), announced Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois.

According to court documents, on October 24, 2012, a trooper with the Illinois State Police (ISP) conducted a traffic stop on a 2008 white Honda Civic owned and driven by Thompson. The passenger of the vehicle was determined to be a 16-year-old female who had been reported missing from the Cincinnati, Ohio area. According to the victim, she and Thompson met on Internet social networking sites. Thompson and the victim communicated over the Internet using a computer and other electronic equipment capable of accessing the Internet for several years.

Between September 23, 2012 and October 22, 2012, Thompson and the victim agreed that Thompson would drive from California to Ohio to pick the victim up and the two would drive back to California where the victim would move-in with Thompson. On October 20, 2012, Thompson left his home in California. Thompson picked the victim up two days later. The two traveled to Indiana, where they spent the night and engaged in sexual intercourse. The following morning, Thompson and the victim drove from Indiana into Illinois with the intent of driving to Thompson’s home in California until they were stopped by the ISP. At all times during Thompson’s car trip, he knew he had on his person his iPhone 5, which he knew stored two photographs visually depicting the victim engaging in sexually explicit conduct. These photographs constitute child pornography.

In addition to the prison sentence, Thompson was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release when he gets out of prison and ordered to pay a $4,383.00 fine. According to United States Attorney, “The facts of this case are particularly disturbing and highlight the necessity to educate our children about online child predators. I urge parents to be aware of where their children are on the Internet and to know who their children are communicating with. My office remains committed to prosecuting dangerous criminals who prey on children. Keeping the children of this district safe is a top priority.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”

The case was investigated by the ISP; the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force, Springfield Division; the FBI Cincinnati Field Division; and the Greater Cincinnati ICAC Task Force. Law enforcement received assistance from the FBI-Los Angeles Division; Collinsville Illinois Police Department; Milford, Ohio Police Department; and the Riverside County, California Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Monica A. Stump prosecuted the case in coordination with Assistant United States Attorney Christy Muncy, Southern District of Ohio.