A convicted sex offender, Jesse Thomas Cunningham, has been sentenced to 37 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This was announced by Lawrence J. Cameron, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Cunningham, aged 30 and from Morven, N.C., is also required to register as a sex offender upon his release.
The announcement was made in collaboration with Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Charlotte Division; Cardell T. Morant, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in North Carolina and South Carolina; Roger “Chip” Hawley, Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI); and Sheriff Scott Howell of the Anson County Sheriff’s Office.
Court documents reveal that in 2021 Cunningham impersonated a minor on Snapchat to communicate with an 11-year-old girl. He coerced her into sending sexually explicit images and videos through Snapchat. Furthermore, he accessed her account to persuade two other minors to send him similar content.
On December 7, 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Cunningham's phone. The forensic examination uncovered CSAM involving three minor victims contacted via Snapchat. Evidence showed that Cunningham threatened these minors with public exposure if they did not provide additional CSAM. His criminal history includes convictions for possessing obscenity with intent to disseminate, attempting extortion, felony secret peeping, and indecent liberties with a child.
Cunningham pleaded guilty on October 11, 2024, to producing CSAM and will remain in federal custody until transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI, HSI, SBI, and the Anson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick J. Miller prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood—a nationwide initiative launched by the Justice Department in May 2006—to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse using federal resources to prosecute offenders and rescue victims.
