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Press Release

Former Tampa Resident Sentenced to Two Decades in Prison for Transporting and Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Pennsylvania

ERIE, Pa. - A former resident of Tampa, Florida, has been sentenced in federal court to 20 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, on his conviction of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

United States District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter imposed the sentence on Thomas Edward Grossman III, 49, also ordering Grossman to pay $3,000 in restitution and a $5,200 special assessment.

According to information presented to the Court, Grossman transported a female minor from Pennsylvania to West Virginia with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Grossman also persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of that conduct and enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pennsylvania State Police, West Virginia State Police, and the Summersville, West Virginia, Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Grossman.

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 the 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.

Updated December 17, 2024

Topic
Project Safe Childhood