Virginia man sentenced to 40 years for coercing dozens of girls online

Malachi Morgan Thomas, 24, of Virginia, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexual exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse material, the Justice Department said.

Thomas pleaded guilty April 2 to one count of production of CSAM and one count of possession of CSAM.

According to court documents, Thomas used a Snapchat account he had hacked and stolen from a minor to coerce approximately 41 girls, ages 12 to 17, into engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Prosecutors said Thomas directed victims to produce CSAM and ordered them to engage in sexually explicit conduct during live video calls. He told victims he led a criminal organization and that they would be safe if they complied, according to the Justice Department. To coerce them, he threatened to hack their accounts or harm them and their families.

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Court documents indicate Thomas knew several victims struggled with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues, and that many had previously been sexually abused. In at least one case, he knew a victim was in foster care.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said Thomas “exploited dozens of girls through threats, coercion, and devastating sexual abuse,” calling his tactics evidence of the “gravity of his abusive and horrific crimes.” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos for the Eastern District of Virginia described his pursuit of victims as “reprehensible and unrelenting” and pledged to use “all tools” available to prosecute offenders. FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox said the sentence reflects “the profound harm” Thomas caused and reaffirmed the bureau’s commitment to investigating those who prey on minors.

According to the Justice Department, Thomas traveled to a victim’s home on June 7, 2020, and assaulted her, recording the assault and saving it to his Snapchat account. Police later found the recording while searching a phone seized from Thomas during an investigation of an altercation. On July 9, 2020, he traveled to a Virginia shopping mall to meet another victim, but the victim’s father, who had learned of Thomas’ conduct, appeared instead. Fairfax County Police arrested Thomas on Oct. 1, 2020, on rape and sodomy charges involving two minors. A subsequent search of his Woodbridge residence turned up a second phone containing dozens of CSAM images and videos, including recordings of assaults on the two Fairfax County victims.

The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case. Trial Attorney Alicia A. Bove of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Halper for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted it. The case was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a Justice Department initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation.

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