Recidivist Offender Sentenced Again for Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials

ERIE, Pa. - A resident of Parker, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 11 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, on his conviction of violating federal laws relating to the sexual exploitation of children and violating the prior conditions of his federal supervised release that he had been serving for a previous conviction for receiving child sexual abuse material, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today. 

United States District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter imposed the sentence on Thomas Robert Hawk, 42.

According to information presented to the court, from August 2021 to May 2022, Hawk possessed and accessed with intent to view visual images and videos in individual digital files depicting prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. 

Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Probation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Hawk.

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.justice.gov/psc.