CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to 48 years in federal prison for enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct.

TERCALO E. THOMAS enticed, persuaded, and used a prepubescent minor to engage in illegal sexual conduct, which he recorded. Thomas then trafficked the images as barter to amass a vast collection of images of other children's sexual abuse. At the time of his arrest in April 2022, Thomas possessed on his cell phone more than 1,500 images depicting child sex abuse.

Thomas, 35, of Park Forest, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger imposed the 48-year prison sentence during a hearing on Jan. 22, 2026, in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

"Defendant was an avid collector of child exploitation images, particularly of prepubescent children," Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly Moheb argued in the government's sentencing memorandum. "Unsatisfied by his depraved collection, he created his own. The seriousness of this offense cannot be overstated."

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to https://www.missingkids.comLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. or by calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.