Grayson County Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Violating Federal Child Exploitation Laws

OWENSBORO, KY—A Grayson County, Kentucky man who used the Internet to communicate with a minor individual in Murray, Kentucky, was sentenced today in United States District Court by Chief U.S. Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr. to 10 years in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for violating federal child exploitation laws, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

David Allen Thompson pled guilty to counts four through 11 of a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury meeting in Owensboro, Kentucky on August 17, 2011. According to the plea agreement, Thompson, age 35, of Leitchfield, Kentucky, used the Internet to communicate with a child in Murray, Kentucky. On multiple occasions between January 20, 2011 and March 23, 2011, he used a web camera and engaged in instant messaging with the child. During the online communications, he engaged in a sexual act with a minor he knew was less than 16 years old. The minor could see and hear Thompson engage in the sexual act. Thompson also admitted to inducing the minor during those online communications to engage in sexual acts for which a person could be prosecuted. Those acts included, but were not limited to, asking her to engage in a sexual performance for him to view over the web camera.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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.”