Federal Jury Convicts Gary Hammonds On Three Counts of Child Pornography Offenses

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Following a three-day trial in United States District Court, Greeneville, Tenn., a jury convicted Gary Lynn Hammonds, 53, of Kingsport, Tenn., of knowingly distributing child pornography, knowingly receiving child pornography and knowingly possessing child pornography involving a child less than 12 years of age.

Sentencing is set for October 20, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., before the Honorable Clifton L. Corker, in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville. Hammonds faces a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison as to each offense and a five-year minimum mandatory sentence for counts one and two.

The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that Hammonds possessed over 1,000 videos and images containing child pornography on a laptop computer and external hard drives that were found in his home. Hammonds distributed child pornography online using peer-to-peer file sharing software.  The investigation was initiated by a Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crime Against Children (ICAC) investigator who identified an internet user on a peer-to-peer file sharing network who was actively sharing child pornography online. The Kingsport Police Department used the information to obtain a search warrant for the defendant’s residence.  Officers executed the search warrant on July 20, 2018, and seized a number of devices. 

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

The Kingsport Police Department, Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations participated in the investigation that resulted in the indictment and subsequent conviction of Hammonds.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily M. Swecker and Meghan L. Gomez represented the United States at trial.

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 click on the link for “Publications & Resources.”

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