Jackson County Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Distributing Child Pornography

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Jackson County, Oregon man with a lengthy criminal history was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison today for distributing child pornography online using Tumblr, a microblogging and social networking website.

Thomas Ray Taylor, 50, a resident of Eagle Point, Oregon, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release. Taylor was also ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution to his victims.

According to court documents, in November 2018, officers from the Eagle Point Police Department received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that an individual residing in Eagle Point, who was later identified as Taylor, was suspected of uploading images and videos depicting child sexual abuse to Tumblr. 

On March 13, 2019, investigators met Taylor at his place of employment and seized his cell phone. Taylor admitted to viewing child pornography and told police about several digital devices he possessed. Later the same day, police executed a search warrant on Taylor’s residence and seized multiple devices. A forensic examination of the devices later confirmed that Taylor possessed more than 1,000 illicit images and videos, some of which he had shared online.

On October 2, 2019, a federal grand jury in Medford returned a three-count indictment charging Taylor with possessing and distributing child pornography. On September 20, 2021, he pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography.

After pleading guilty, Taylor absconded his pretrial supervision and his whereabouts were unknown to law enforcement for more than 10 months. On October 8, 2022, he was located and arrested in Lee County, Florida.

This case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Eagle Point Police Department. It was prosecuted by Judith H. Harper, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.