Mark Deakins, Child Sex Abuse, Tennessee 2023

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Mark Deakins, a 63-year-old Chattanooga man, was convicted of multiple charges involving the sexual abuse of minors.

The defendant was found guilty of violating 18 U.S.C. §§ 2421, 2251(a), 2252A(a)(5)(B) and (b)(2), and 2260A, following a trial in U.S. District Court.

According to evidence presented at trial, for over 20 years, Deakins raped and sexually assaulted numerous pre-teen and teen boys from 1995 to 2018 in various locations in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. He also transported a victim across state lines to engage in illegal sexual exploitation and abuse.

Deakins secretly recorded his crimes, and the number of child sexual abuse videos and images he possessed numbered in the thousands. After law enforcement agents executed search warrants on his home and computers, they found these images and videos as well as thousands of images of other child sexual abuse material from all over the world.

Deakins committed these crimes while already on the Sex Offender Registry for past convictions.

Sentencing has been scheduled for September 28, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. The defendant faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 45 years and a maximum term of life in prison.

“The defendant’s conduct was egregious,” said United States Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III. “He preyed on young boys desperate for a male role model. I am thankful for the collaborative effort and hard work of our federal, state, and local law enforcement officers and our prosecutors for seeking justice in this appalling case.”

Law enforcement agencies participating in the joint investigation which led to indictment and subsequent conviction of Mark Deakins included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals Service, Red Bank Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Chattanooga Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Brooks and Steven S. Neff represented the United States.

This case was investigated 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.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edtn/pr/mark-deakins-convicted-sexual-abuse-child-using-children-produce-child-sexual-abuse