Jefferson Reporter

A man from New Hope, Alabama, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for cyberstalking, extortion, and producing child pornography. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and FBI Special Agent Carlton L. Peeples.

Donald Wayne Carmody, aged 29, received his sentence from U.S. District Court Judge Liles C. Burke after pleading guilty in December to the charges mentioned above. His sentence includes a lifetime of supervised release and registration as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The plea agreement detailed that Carmody used anonymous text messages to threaten a victim with releasing her pictures online unless she sent him intimate photos. He also accessed her social media accounts using her login credentials. Upon his arrest for cyberstalking and extortion, investigators found a USB thumb drive belonging to him containing images of child pornography involving two victims under twelve years old.

The FBI's Video Forensic Analysis Unit played a crucial role in linking the images on the thumb drive to Carmody by comparing them with photographs of his hands taken during the investigation.

The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John M. Hundscheid.

Authorities urge anyone suspecting or aware of potential sexual exploitation of children to contact law enforcement immediately or report it through appropriate channels such as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children or online at www.cybertipline.org.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide through collaboration between federal, state, and local resources.

For further information about Project Safe Childhood or resources on cybercrime, individuals can visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or www.ic3.gov respectively.