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Press Release

Recidivist Sex Offender Sentenced to Time Served After Pleading Guilty to Possession Child Pornography in Two Separate Cases

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico

ALBUQERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico announced today that Thomas Crosby was sentenced to 5 days in prison or time served. Crosby, 29, of Irwin, Pennsylvania, pled guilty in federal court to the possession of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct in two separate cases on Sept. 14, 2022.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, on June 20, 2018, PayPal reported seven accounts potentially selling child pornography and numerous accounts purchasing content from the noted sellers. One such buyer was identified as Crosby. PayPal identified various IP addresses utilized by Crosby and provided them to the FBI. Special Agents from the FBI checked the IP addresses in the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) database and were able to determine that they were actively downloading child pornography on the BitTorrent network around the same dates Crosby logged into PayPal. 

At the time of the offense, Crosby was a member of the United States Air Force assigned to Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis, NM. On November 14, 2018, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant on Crosby’s address in Clovis. Crosby was subsequently interviewed by agents of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the FBI and admitted to downloading child pornography via BitTorrent. Crosby was administratively discharged from the Air Force as a result and returned to the Pittsburgh area in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Crosby was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of New Mexico on Sept. 23, 2020. After Crosby was indicted in the District of New Mexico in September 2020 for possessing child pornography, the FBI executed an arrest warrant near Monroeville, Pennsylvania. At the time of his arrest, Crosby admitted to continuing to view child pornography after leaving New Mexico despite law enforcement intervention. A search of Crosby’s phone uncovered additional items of child pornography. As a result, Crosby was federally indicted on Feb. 1, 2022, in the Western District of Pennsylvania for the additional child pornography offenses.

On Sept. 19, 2022, after the Pennsylvania case was transferred to New Mexico, Crosby pled guilty in federal court to the possession of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct in both cases. The United States Sentencing Guideline range for Crosby’s offense was 78-97 months in prison, supervised release for 5 years to life, and a requirement to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

On July 13, 2023, Crosby appeared in District Court for sentencing in both cases.  The United States recommended that he receive a sentence of 78-months incarceration. Crosby was sentenced to time served, or 5 days in prison, 15 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $12,000. One of the conditions of Crosby’s supervised release is that he be on GPS monitoring with home detention, which allows him to leave his residence for work, appointments, and with the express permission of his Probation Officer for five years.  He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

The New Mexico case was investigated by the Las Cruces Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations with assistance from the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory.

Updated July 17, 2023

Topic
Project Safe Childhood
Press Release Number: 23-151