A former bartender from St. Charles County was sentenced on April 29 to 13 years in prison after admitting to possessing child sexual abuse material and installing hidden cameras in a previous residence, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
U.S. District Judge Joshua M. Divine also ordered Anthony Thomas, age 49, to pay $104,500 in restitution to victims depicted in the downloaded material. The sentence comes after Thomas pleaded guilty in January to one count of receipt of child pornography.
Investigators found that Thomas possessed thousands of files containing child sexual abuse material as well as other pornography where the ages were difficult to determine. Homeland Security Investigations identified Thomas after learning someone in St. Charles County was distributing such materials through BitTorrent peer-to-peer networks.
Thomas admitted he had installed hidden cameras in both a bedroom and bathroom at a former residence, which captured images of a 14-year-old girl.
“Anthony Thomas committed egregious crimes that exploited and harmed children,” said HSI St. Louis Assistant Special Agent in Charge Gregory Paris. “I am extremely proud of our agents’ diligent work in bringing his criminal conduct to an end. As a bartender, Thomas interacted with countless individuals who, I imagine, were unaware of the serious crimes he was committing. Parents and guardians can take comfort in knowing Thomas is off the streets.”
Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Charles County Regional SWAT Team investigated this case, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes prosecuted it.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative by the Department of Justice launched in May 2006 aimed at combating child exploitation online and rescuing victims.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri advances community well-being by working with entities to prevent crime and improve quality of life, according to the official website. The office investigates and prosecutes federal crimes such as terrorism and fraud while enforcing civil rights; it serves 49 counties across eastern Missouri using facilities including the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis and Rush H. Limbaugh Sr. U.S Courthouse in Cape Girardeau according to its official website. The office operates under the United States Department of Justice as stated on its website.
