An Oklahoma man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for crimes involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Thomas Edward Gailus, 52, of Webber Falls, was charged after using the dark web to obtain a large collection of illicit content, including material depicting prepubescent minors, according to the Department of Justice.
Gailus had a prior 2005 conviction for possessing depictions of minors in sexually explicit conduct and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. In 2023, investigators found files at his home bearing the same series title as images from his earlier conviction.
The FBI led the investigation. Trial Attorney Gwendelynn Bills of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Pippin for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case.
Officials including Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti, U.S. Attorney Chris Wilson, Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Special Agent in Charge Douglas Goodwater of the FBI’s Oklahoma City Field Office announced the sentence.
The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative addressing child exploitation and abuse online, and is also linked to Operation Grayskull, which has shut down four dark web platforms distributing CSAM. For more information, the DOJ encourages visiting the Project Safe Childhood webpage.
