United States Attorney James L. Santelle announced today that Thomas A. Gervais (age: 45) of Antigo, Wisconsin, was sentenced yesterday to 45 years’ imprisonment by United States District Judge William C. Griesbach. Judge Griesbach also ordered a lifetime term of supervised release. The sentence followed his guilty plea to two counts of production of child pornography. The counts charged that he used and coerced two minor females to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the conduct.

According to the complaint and other court documents, in July 2014, law enforcement agents arrested a subject, who lived out of state, on charges involving the sexual exploitation of minors. The subject told law enforcement agents that he communicated with other child pornography producers and traded child pornography with them. Subsequent investigation revealed that Thomas Gervais was one of those producing and trading child pornography with the subject. On October 10, 2014, a federal search warrant was executed at the residence of Thomas Gervais, located in Antigo, Wisconsin. Gervais was arrested and agents recovered additional evidence supporting Gervais’ sexual assault and exploitation of two minor females over the course of several years.

This case was prosecuted in federal court as part of “Project Safe Childhood,” the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children using the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Antigo Police Department, Langlade County Sheriff’s Department and the Langlade County District Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William Roach.