A Springfield man who was already a registered sex offender was sentenced to 17 years in a federal prison for possessing and distributing child pornography.
Anthony P. Thuro, 41, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool on Jan. 30. Thuro is in the Christian County Jail awaiting transportation to a federal prison.
Before he was sentenced, Thuro said he wanted to apologize to the victims of his crime.
“When I think about the pain they went through and my part in spreading that, I feel terrible,” Thuro said.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Sex Offender Registry, Thuro was convicted of two counts of first-degree sodomy in 2000 involving a female victim aged 8-9 years old and a male victim aged 12-13 years old.
Because of those prior “hands-on” offenses, Thuro faced a minimum sentence of 15 years for new recent child pornography conviction.
Prior to Tuesday’s hearing, Harpool said he reviewed Thuro’s presentence report to learn what he could about Thuro’s life. Harpool spoke about Thuro’s intelligence and personal capabilities, particularly in high school — which is when Thuro pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree sodomy involving young victims.
Harpool said Thuro went years before facing the child porn charges, had been employed and had a family.
“You let this sexual interest in children disrupt your life again,” Harpool said. “It’s puzzling and sad, but something our society does not and should not tolerate.”
Harpool noted Thuro is not charged with creating the child pornography, and there’s no evidence to suggest he’s abused any other children since 2000.
In addition to the 17-year prison sentence, Harpool ordered Thuro to complete the U.S. Bureau of Prison’s sex offender treatment program.
About the investigation
According to online court documents, an undercover agent with the FBI was covertly monitoring a discussion group on Kik, an instant messaging application known for its anonymity features.
The agent found the group in late March 2021 and discovered the group was sharing a Mega folder containing videos of child sexual abuse materials. A random sampling of the files found a video of a girl as young as 3 being raped by adult man.
Kik is a free smartphone app that has a reputation for being among the least safe messaging apps available.
Investigators discovered some of the IP addresses accessing the Mega folder were assigned to Thuro’s home and phone number.
In executing a search warrant, investigators found 36 images of child sexual abuse material on Thuro’s phone.
Arguments from the sentencing hearing
In arguing for the minimum sentence of 15 years, Thuro’s defense attorney Adam Woody spoke about Thuro’s young age when he was convicted of sodomizing the young victims in 2000.
“He was 17 years old at the time. He was 18 or 19 when he pleaded to it,” Woody said. “I understand he had some hiccups on probation, but we are talking about a 20-year-old kid.”
Woody spoke about how Thuro spent the next two decades employed, and how Thuro was married with two small children.
“We are not here to deflect responsibility, because he squandered all of that,” Woody said. “He had a great life.”
In pushing for a tougher sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan called Thuro’s prior offenses “pretty horrendous.”
Wan reminded the court of Thuro’s probation violations, that he’d been convicted of failing to register as a sex offender and that he failed to complete a sex offender treatment program.
In Wan’s view, Thuro has attempted to minimize his crimes by claiming he “is not really attracted to children.”
“Either he is sexually attracted to children,” Wan said, “or he is sexually gratified (by watching children be abused).”
