KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - On August 4, 2022, the Honorable Katherine A. Crytzer, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, sentenced Alan Malott, age 27, of Dandridge, Tennessee, to serve 195 months in federal prison, and on August 5, 2022, the Honorable Katherine A. Crytzer sentenced Christopher Thurman, age 25, also of Dandridge, Tennessee, to serve 180 months in federal prison. Malott and Thurman were co-defendants who were both charged with the production of child pornography.

As part of plea agreements filed with the court, Malott and Thurman both agreed to plead guilty to an indictment charging them with producing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) and (e). Following their term of imprisonment, Malott and Thurman will be on supervised release for life. Both Malott and Thurman will be required to register with state sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions during their supervised release.

According to documents filed in the case, Malott and Thurman admitted in 2019 they filmed themselves raping a minor family member of Malott's. Malott then sent the video of the rape to his prior boyfriend in Louisiana and to Thurman. The defendants also admitted they sexually abused a horse and dog.

This prosecution was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kolman represented the United States in court.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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