Virginia man sentenced to 40 years for exploiting more than 40 girls on Snapchat, possessing CSAM

Note: This article contains discussion of child sexual abuse, including both the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Viewer discretion is advised.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A Virginia man will spend 40 years in prison for sexual exploitation of over 40 minor girls on Snapchat and possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Friday.

Twenty-four-year-old Malachi Morgan Thomas previously pled guilty to one count of production of CSAM and one count of possession of CSAM in April. The Justice Department said he used a Snapchat account, which he had previously hacked and stolen from a minor, to coerce 41 girls between 12 and 17 years old to engage in sexually explicit content.

Thomas directed the victims to create and send CSAM and ordered them to engage in sexually explicit conduct during live video calls. He also told them he led a criminal organization, and that they would be safe as long as they did as told, the DOJ said.

Thomas also threatened to hack the victims’ accounts or harm them and their family to coerce compliance. The DOJ said he knew several of his victims suffered from anxiety, depression and other mental health issues, and he was aware that many were previously victims of sexual abuse.

The Justice Department said he knew the victim was in foster care in at least one instance.

On June 7, 2020, Thomas travelled to a victim’s and assaulted her, which he recorded and saved in his Snapchat account, the release said. Police found the video after searching one of his cellphones.

Two days later, Thomas went to a shopping mall in Virginia to meet a victim he exploited on Snapchat, the DOJ said. The victim’s father had learned of his actions and appeared at the mall instead, and Thomas’ phone was seized when police responded to the incident.

Fairfax County Police arrested Thomas on charges of rape and sodomy of two minors on Oct. 1, 2020. When searching his in Woodbridge, investigators found a second phone with dozens of images and videos of CSAM, including recordings of his sexual assaults of two victims in Fairfax, the DOJ said.

“His tactics — leveraging hacked accounts, fear of physical harm, psychological manipulation, and physical assaults — underscore the gravity of his abusive and horrific crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva in part in the release. “This defendant will spend the four decades in prison and never harm another child.”