SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 16, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A South Jordan man was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to the production and dissemination of child exploitation materials.
Thomas Wallin, 23, also will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison, says a statement released by the Department of Justice, District of Utah.
In the plea agreement, Wallin admitted to sexually abusing a minor in 2019, and to producing and distributing a sexually explicit depiction of the abuse using the internet.
In August of 2020, Homeland Security Investigations “received a request for assistance from Australian law enforcement officials related to an individual located in Utah who was distributing child exploitation materials with an individual located in Australia,” the DOJ statement says. “The suspect in Australia had been arrested earlier by Australian authorities, and after a review of the Australian’s Telegram social media account, he was found to have been exchanging child exploitation materials with a Utahn believed to be Thomas Wallin, of South Jordan, Utah.”
The investigation found that in 2019, the two used the Telegram platform to share sexually explicit videos of minors under the age of 7, including a video which depicted Wallin sexually abusing a 3-year-old boy, and made a separate explicit video of the same child.
“Authorities were able to confirm it was Wallin who was abusing the minor in part through a distinctive bracelet worn by Wallin in the video which was later found in his home during a search warrant,” the statement says, adding Wallin was also identified by a mole on his hand, which could be seen in the video.
Wallin admitted to abusing and recording the child, the DOJ statement says, and to receiving child exploitation materials over the internet. Digital media seized from Wallin at the time of arrest contained more than 20 explicit images of children 11 and younger being abused and exploited, the statement says.
“The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting minor victims from violent criminals who prey on their innocence,” U.S. Attorney Andrea T. Martinez said in the released statement. “The troubling facts of this case should be a reminder for parents and guardians of young children to be extremely careful of who your children are left alone with. Thanks to the investigative work by special agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the defendant in this case will be in federal prison for almost two decades, and the victims in this case can begin healing from the trauma caused by these crimes.”
Lucia Cabral-DeArmas, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations — Las Vegas, also was quoted.
“This lengthy sentence is a testament to the repugnant nature of child exploitation crimes which only perpetuates the lasting trauma endured by victims,” she said. “Our hope is that this sentence sends a message that our HSI agents will aggressively pursue anyone who attempts to prey on our nation’s most vulnerable population, our children. Let today be the starting point for the healing process for the victims and their families.”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.
