A Jonesboro man has been sentenced to more than 21 years in federal prison for advertising child pornography. Steven Thorpe, 44, of Jonesboro, will spend 262 months behind bars for his crimes.
According to the investigation, two individuals brought Thorpe’s phone and computer to the Jonesboro Police Department in June 2014, after they had seen sexually explicit photos of a minor on his phone. Police obtained a search warrant and found over 20,000 images of child pornography on the device.
The United States Secret Service then obtained a search warrant for Thorpe’s laptop computer, which contained over 1,400 images of child pornography. Agents also discovered that Thorpe had accessed online chatrooms through a computer program called Gigatribe. In these chats, Thorpe advertised to other users that he had child pornography available, including ‘doctor/patient, dad/son, hidden cams, massage,’ and ‘getting caught, locker/school rooms, and public videos.’
Thorpe would then send other users a link to a folder containing his child pornography along with his password, ‘boys777.’ The case was investigated by the Jonesboro Police Department and United States Secret Service, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Allison W. Bragg and Kristin Bryant.
Thorpe is still facing multiple state charges, including pending sexual assault and additional possession of child pornography charges in Craighead County.
On February 9, 2017, Chief United States District Court Judge Brian S. Miller imposed the sentence of 262 months for both counts of possession of child pornography and advertising child pornography. There is no parole in the federal system. When Thorpe is released upon completion of his sentence, he will remain on supervised release for the rest of his life. Conditions of his supervised release include registering as a sex offender and having no contact with minors under the age of 18.
The investigation began in June 2014, when two people brought Thorpe’s phone and computer to the Jonesboro Police Department and reported that they had seen sexually explicit photos of a minor on Thorpe’s phone. Jonesboro police obtained a search warrant, and when they searched the phone, investigators found over 20,000 images of child pornography.
Defendant: Steven Thorpe
Criminal Charges: Advertising child pornography, possession of child pornography
City and State: Jonesboro, Arkansas
Date: June 2014 (investigation began), February 9, 2017 (sentence imposed)
Sentence: 262 months in federal prison, supervised release for the rest of his life
Key Facts
- State: Arkansas
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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