Citrus County Man Sentenced To More Than 11 Years For Distributing Child Pornography

Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges has sentenced Alan Kenneth Thompson, Jr. (33, Crystal River) to 11 years and 4 months in federal prison for distributing child pornography.

According to court documents, agents from U.S. Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations determined that Thompson had been using a mobile app to post and receive images depicting child pornography online. The agents tracked the activity to Thompson’s residence. On September 10, 2015, a search warrant was executed at the residence and a cellphone and two laptop computers were seized. More than 4,500 images and 84 video files depicting child pornography were identified during forensic analyses of Thompson’s devices.

During an interview with law enforcement, Thompson admitted that he had been receiving and distributing child pornography, including some in which the victims were only four or five years old. Thompson further stated that he recently had begun to take non-pornographic photographs of neighborhood children without their knowledge, including more than 3,000 images of a minor girl.

“This criminal had thousands of horrible images, each of which represented an atrocious crime on a child,” said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa. “This sentencing should stand as a warning to child predators that you will be held accountable for your crimes.”

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood 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 Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.