Kingsland Man Sentenced to More Than 17 Years for Distributing Child Pornography

BRUNSWICK, GA—Thomas John Mumford, 26, of Kingsland, Georgia, was sentenced on May 13, 2013, by United States District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood to 17½ years in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for distributing child pornography. Mumford will be required to register as a sex offender. At the conclusion of the sentencing, Mumford was returned to the custody of the United States Marshal Service to serve his sentence.

According to the evidence presented at Mumford’s plea and sentencing hearings, in February 2012, Mumford was posting child pornography images on the Internet to be shared with others. When interviewed by a special agent with Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mumford admitted that he had regularly downloaded and viewed child pornography images and encouraged a young person to live-stream a video of themself taking a shower to him. Mumford’s computer was found to contain over 730 still images and 25 video images of child pornography. At the sentencing hearing, Mumford admitted to having a serious problem and hoped to get treatment while in prison.

United States Attorney Edward J. Tarver stated, “The sharing of images depicting the sexual abuse of innocent children is a serious and heinous crime. The abuse to these young victims continued every time the defendant viewed these images and made them available to others over the Internet. There is no higher priority within the Department of Justice than the protection of our nation’s children. There should be no doubt that the United States Attorney’s Office will prosecute those who facilitate and create a market for the violent sexual assault of children.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.

The case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Greenwood prosecuted the case. For additional information, please contact First Assistant United States Attorney James D. Durham at (912) 201-2547.