Jacob Seth Thornton, Child Pornography Conviction, Texas 2015

Lubbock Man Sentenced to 188 Months in Federal Prison on Child Pornography Conviction

LUBBOCK, Texas — Jacob Seth Thornton, 29, of Lubbock, Texas, was sentenced this morning by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 188 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in September 2015 to one count of receiving a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

According to plea documents filed in his case, Thornton kept a laptop at his residence that he used to, among other things, search the Internet for images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Thornton used peer-to-peer file sharing software to receive the seven images described in the indictment, as well as many others.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Lubbock County Sheriff's Office investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy prosecuted the case.

Thornton was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on February 12.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/lubbock-man-sentenced-188-months-federal-prison-child-pornography-conviction