A 24-year-old Virginia man, Malachi Morgan Thomas, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after using a hacked Snapchat account to sexually exploit approximately 41 girls aged between 12 and 17.
Thomas, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was sentenced on Thursday, September 24, after pleading guilty in April to producing and possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), according to the United States Department of Justice.
The case dates back to 2020, when Thomas used a Snapchat account he had hacked and taken from a minor to target girls. Brandspur Brand News reports that court documents showed he coerced the victims into creating and sending sexually explicit material and instructed them to engage in explicit conduct during live video calls.
Thomas also used threats to force compliance. Investigators said he falsely claimed to lead a criminal organisation and warned some victims that he could hack their accounts or harm them and their families if they failed to follow his instructions.
Prosecutors said Thomas was aware that several of the girls had experienced anxiety, depression or previous sexual abuse. In at least one case, he knew that a victim was living in foster care.
The investigation also uncovered evidence of physical abuse. In June 2020, Thomas travelled to a victim’s home, sexually assaulted the victim and recorded the incident. The recording was later found on one of his phones. A month later, he went to Potomac Mills Mall in Woodbridge to meet another victim he had exploited through Snapchat, but the girl’s father had discovered what was happening and went to the meeting place instead.
Fairfax County Police arrested Thomas on October 1, 2020, on charges involving the rape and sodomy of two minors. Investigators subsequently searched his Woodbridge residence with support from Prince William County Police and found another phone containing dozens of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse, including recordings of assaults involving two victims.
The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the federal case, which was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Alicia A. Bove of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant US Attorney Lauren Halper for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The Justice Department said the case was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative focused on combating the online exploitation and sexual abuse of children. The programme combines federal, state and local law-enforcement resources to investigate offenders and identify and protect victims.
Thomas will now serve the 40-year federal prison sentence imposed by the court, following a case that began with the misuse of a hacked social media account and ultimately exposed the exploitation of dozens of underage girls.
