Registered Sex Offender Sentenced for Possessing Child Pornography

WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Washington, North Carolina man was sentenced to 210 months in prison for possession of child pornography followed by a lifetime of supervised release.  On April 8, 2021, Nathanael Thomas Jackson pled guilty to the charges.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Jackson, 28, possessed over 10,000 images of child pornography.  The investigation began in 2018 with a cybertip that Jackson had uploaded two videos depicting sexual abuse of children to an online account.  Agents were able to trace the uploads back to Jackson.  Using search warrants, agents found Jackson in possession of 10,715 images, including videos, of child sexual abuse and child exploitation.  The investigation uncovered that Jackson had used a pseudo identity and email account to coerce and threaten minors to send him explicit images of themselves.

Jackson is a registered sex offender from previous convictions in 2015 for incest in Perquimans County, North Carolina.   

G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation investigated the case, with assistance from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the Michigan State Police, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Beaufort County District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parris prosecuted the case.

This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level.  For more information about this important national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:20-CR-00094-M.