East Tennessee Man Sentenced To 15 Years For Distribution Of Child Pornography

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On September 18, 2025, Michael Robert Potter, 38, of Rocky Top, TN, was sentenced to 188 months by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, United States District Judge, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville.  Following his imprisonment, Potter will be on supervised release for 10 years and will be required to register with state sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions.

As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Potter agreed to plead guilty to an indictment charging him with one count of distribution of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2).

According to filed court documents, from April 2023 to May 2023, investigators with the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security Investigations – Internet Crimes Against Children (HSI-ICAC) Task Force conducted online investigations into the trafficking of child pornography.  This investigation led to the identification of an IP address utilized by Potter which contained numerous files depicting child pornography and child sexual abuse.  In October 2023, a federal search warrant was executed which found Potter to be in possession of several pieces of computer equipment which contained over 20,000 images and over 500 videos depicting child pornography and child sexual abuse.

U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton of the Eastern District of Tennessee made the announcement.

The criminal indictment was the result of an investigation by HSI-ICAC and Knoxville Police Department.  This investigation was led by HSI-ICAC Task Force Officer Thomas Evans.

Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Kolman represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC 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 PSC, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click the tab "resources.”

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