A man from Glynn County has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for his guilty plea on charges related to distributing child pornography. Thomas Webster, a 62-year-old resident of St. Simons Island, was dealt a 76-month incarceration period by U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia.
In addition to the prison time, Webster is required to register as a sex offender also he must face 15 years of supervised release after serving his sentence, and there's no parole option in the federal system, his punishment doesn't end there, as he has also been ordered to pay restitution and financial penalties amounting to $80,300. "Images of child sexual abuse are lasting reminders of the abuse suffered by each victim, and those who distribute these images perpetuate the victimization," U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg stated in the same press release.
The illegal activity came to light following a February 2021 CyberTip that pointed to the distribution of child sexual abuse material from a Glynn County address through X, an account later identified as Webster's. When law enforcement conducted a search of his residence in St. Simons, they uncovered more than a 1,000 images of child pornography stored on multiple devices. Following his arrest on federal charges in October 2023, Webster pleaded guilty to one count of Distribution of Child Pornography by April of the next year.
Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, Keri Farley, emphasized the severity of the sentence as a deterrent, saying, “Webster will spend the next six years of his life in prison, which should send a strong message to anyone who even contemplates distributing images of innocent children,” and the collective effort of the FBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), and the Glynn County Police Department was highlighted as pivotal to the case's successful prosecution by Assistant U.S. Attorney L. Alexander Hamner. The public is encouraged by officials to report any suspected child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-843-5678, or online, as detailed by U.S. Attorney's Office.
