St. Charles County Bartender Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Child Pornography Offense

ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Joshua M. Divine on Wednesday sentenced a former bartender who admitted possessing child sexual abuse material and installing hidden cameras in the bedroom and bathroom of a former residence to 13 years in prison.

Judge Divine also ordered Anthony Thomas, 49, of St. Charles County, to pay $104,500 to victims who appeared in the child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that he downloaded.

Thomas possessed thousands of media files containing CSAM and thousands more containing pornography where the age of those depicted is difficult to discern. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations found Thomas after learning that someone in St. Charles County was making CSAM available for download via the BitTorrent peer-to-peer network.

Thomas also admitted installing hidden cameras in a bedroom and bathroom of a former residence. Both captured images of a 14-year-old girl.

Thomas pleaded guilty in January to one count of receipt of child pornography.

"Anthony Thomas committed egregious crimes that exploited and harmed children," said HSI St. Louis Assistant Special Agent in Charge Gregory Paris. "I am extremely proud of our agents' diligent work in bringing his criminal conduct to an end. As a bartender, Thomas interacted with countless individuals who, I imagine, were unaware of the serious crimes he was committing. Parents and guardians can take comfort in knowing Thomas is off the streets".

Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Charles County Regional SWAT Team investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as 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 Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.