Local News

A Jackson County man with a lengthy criminal history has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography online using Tumblr, a microblogging and social networking website.

The US Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon reports 50-year-old Thomas Ray Taylor of Eagle Point was sentenced this week to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution.

According to court documents, the Eagle Point Police Department in November 2018 received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a local resident was suspected of uploading images and videos depicting child sexual abuse.

In March 2019, investigators met Taylor at his place of employment and seized his cell phone. Taylor admitted to viewing child pornography and told police about several digital devices he possessed. Later that same day, police executed a search warrant at Taylor's residence and seized multiple devices. A forensic examination later confirmed that he possessed more than 1,000 illicit images and videos, some of which he shared online.

In October 2019, a federal grand jury in Medford returned a three-count indictment charging Taylor with Possession and Distribution of Child Pornography. About one year later, he pleaded guilty to one count of Distributing Child Pornography.

After pleading guilty, Taylor absconded his pretrial supervision and his location was unknown to law enforcement for more than 10 months. On October 8th of this year, he was located and arrested in Lee County, Florida.