Alexandria, VA – A McLean man was sentenced to five years in prison for collecting tens of thousands of images and videos of child pornography since 2004.
Seth Aaron Thornton, 43, pleaded guilty on November 2, 2016. According to court documents, Thornton, an information technology consultant, had been using peer-to-peer networks to amass a collection of tens of thousands of images and videos of minor girls, primarily aged approximately 8 to 14 years old, though many featured even younger children.
Seth Thornton used the Internet to hunt for images and videos of young girls being sexually exploited and abused, said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. The distribution and receipt of child pornography fuels a market for further production and abuse, while continuing the victimization of children depicted in the images.
“Child pornography, in any form, haunts its victims for their entire lifetime,” said Patrick J. Lechleitner, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. “Our special agents are dedicated to identifying and investigating individuals who prey on children, and we will ensure they’re prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Thornton had worked for prominent consulting companies as well as the federal government. He was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maya D. Song and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Burke IV prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
Related Federal Cases
- James Jeffrey Schroeder, Receiving and Downloading Child Pornography, Virginia 2017 · Virginia
- Lucas Aronson, Child Pornography Production, Virginia 2024 · Virginia
- Steven Jon Frederiksen, Child Pornography Production, Virginia 2015 · Virginia
- Marvin Mitchell Jackson, Child Pornography Transport, Virginia 2023 · Virginia
- Phillip Dale Mahlkuch, Child Pornography Possession, Virginia 2016 · Virginia
Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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