Terlingua Man Serving 40 Years in Prison For Child Sexual Abuse Website

The website was charging people for access for over 20 years and was shut down in 2019 following the arrest.

According to NewsWest 9, Thomas Arthur, 63, had been running the website since 1996 and the FBI arrested him in November 2019 after they connected him to it.

The judge ordered him to be placed on a supervised release period of three years after his prison sentence and pay a fine of $50,000.

This past January, a federal jury convicted him of three counts of trafficking in obscene visuals representations of child sex abuse, five counts of trafficking obscene text stories about child sex abuse, and one count of selling obscene matters involving child sex abuse.

Members of the website were also allowed discounts if they uploaded their own stories or material related to child sex abuse and/or incest.

His site was run out of the Netherlands and was the primary source of income for Arthur for the past 20 years and was shut down following his arrest in 2019.

Documents filed in court also showed that Arthur had sexually assaulted two female children, one was four or five years old at the time of the assault, and both came forward during the investigation.

The judge also granted criminal forfeiture of Arthur's property such as his electronics, cash proceeds, and his residence which the government seized them all in 2020.

“The despicable, exploitative behavior of the defendant in this case is nothing short of shocking. The 40-year sentence imposed by the court reflects the extremely serious nature of the criminal conduct,” said a U.S. Attorney.

Arthur will begin his sentence immediately.

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