BOISE – Jody Michael Thomas, 40, of Caldwell, was sentenced today to a total of 160 months for possession of sexually explicit images of minors and for failure to register as a sex offender, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Thomas to serve ten years of supervised release following his prison term and pay a $1,000 fine. Thomas pleaded guilty to the charges in March 2011.

According to the plea agreement, Thomas was in possession of a computer and a DVD disc containing more than 600 sexually explicit images and videos of children ranging in age from approximately two to sixteen years old at the home where he was residing on Gary Lane in Caldwell in October 2010.

Thomas was previously convicted in Monroe County, Georgia, in 1988 of aggravated child molestation, statutory rape, and three counts of child molestation. He also has a prior conviction in 2004 from Washington state for failure to register as a sex offender, in violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), which was passed by Congress in 2006. The Act requires sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction where they reside.

The case was investigated by the Idaho State Police.

The case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ 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, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.