Last updated on June 23, 2021
A Texas man was sentenced today in the Western District of Texas to 40 years in prison for multiple obscenity crimes involving children.
Thomas Alan Arthur, 65, of Terlingua, was convicted by a federal jury on Jan. 21, 2021, of three counts of trafficking in obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of a child, five counts of trafficking in obscene text stories about the sexual abuse of children, and one count of engaging in the business of selling obscene matters involving the sexual abuse of children.
According to court documents and evidence introduced at trial, Arthur began operating the Mr. Double website in 1996 and began charging members for access to the site in 1998. The website was dedicated to publishing writings that detail the sexual abuse of children, including the rape, torture and murder of infants and toddlers. The evidence at trial showed that all submissions for publication were reviewed and approved by Arthur before he posted them on the site. Some of the author pages contained drawings depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Evidence at trial showed that the website was Arthur’s sole source of income for more than 20 years. The site was taken offline in November 2019 when the FBI executed a search warrant at his residence near Terlingua, where Arthur administered the site. Pursuant to a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the Netherlands, additional evidence was obtained from the server in the Netherlands, where the site was hosted.
Additionally, according to court documents and statements made at the sentencing, Arthur sexually assaulted two females who came forward during the investigation of this case. Court documents and statements made in court showed that in approximately 1992, Arthur drugged an adult woman living with him, sexually assaulted her and video recorded it. In another instance, in the early 1980s, Arthur molested a girl when she was four or five years old, who was the daughter of a friend and business associate.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, Arthur was sentenced to three years of supervised release and a $50,000 fine.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.
Trial Attorney Austin M. Berry of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Morrison of the Middle District of Tennessee and Assistant U.S. Attorney Fidel Esparza of the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case with assistance from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.
The FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Brewster County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Special thanks are extended to the government of the Netherlands for its assistance.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.
