Thomas Hungerford to plead guilty in federal child porn case
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Thomas Hungerford to plead guilty in federal child porn case

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A Grand Rapids-area man accused of spying through the window of a girl’s home and secretly recording her during a “private moment” is scheduled to plead guilty in federal court Friday and faces at least 15 years in prison.

Grandville construction superintendent Thomas Hungerford, 54, is expected to admit to recording a video of a minor without her knowledge or consent in August 2023, according to a copy of the plea agreement obtained by The Detroit News.

The video “showed a female under the age of 18 engaging in sexually explicit activity, specifically depicting a lascivious display of her genitals…” according to a plea agreement filed in federal court Thursday. “The defendant made the recording on his iPhone and saved it to a removable storage device…”

Hungerford’s attorney, Pavol Fabian, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Hungerford is scheduled to plead guilty to sexual abuse of a child before U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in federal court in Kalamazoo at 3:30 p.m. The trial took place five months after Hungerford was arrested, accused of stealing underwear from a girl’s high school locker room and bragging about his adventures online under the pseudonym “Barry Sanders.”

As part of the conviction, Hungerford faces up to 30 years in prison and must register as a sex offender.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop two charges of distributing child pornography, each of which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

People convicted of federal child pornography crimes in West Michigan face harsher sentences than on the east side of the state. Since 2015, at least 82 people convicted in federal court in West Michigan were sentenced to an average of more than 11 years in federal prison. On the eastern side of the state, 255 people were sentenced to an average of eight years in prison during the same period.

The unsealed federal child pornography case described online fantasies, real-world crimes and surveillance during a period of alleged crimes targeting girls on the state’s west side.

“Hungerford also discussed going to public places such as gymnastics studios, watching and video/photographing young girls wearing tight clothing such as leotards or tights,” FBI Special Agent Aaron Eastham wrote. federal court declaration.

The criminal case, filed in May, alleges that as recently as March, Hungerford exchanged messages with a person in Nebraska who was the subject of an FBI child pornography investigation.

During this investigation, agents seized a cell phone and found messages on an encrypted application that uses dark web technology to provide security and privacy to users.

Agents focused on messages between the suspect and a user identified as “Barry Sanders,” who investigators soon identified as Hungerford, according to the affidavit.

The messages began in November and both users discussed their interest in pedophilia, the representative wrote.

“Have you admitted to yourself that you’re a pedo yet?” Hungerford wrote in a single message, according to the government.

“It took me a long time and I denied it to myself forever,” Hungerford added. “But when I finally admitted to myself that I was a pedo, it was like an awakening. I’m actually embracing it now.”

During the conversations, Hungerford had numerous photos and videos of non-nude and naked children, the representative said. In February, Hungerford shared a video of a girl who was approximately 6 years old being raped, according to the affidavit.

The government alleges that in other conversations, Hungerford talked about his interest in prepubescent girls. “I want to touch the teenager sooo bad!!!!” he wrote. According to the FBI, in November he had a specific girl in mind.

“We have some friends whose daughters are SMOKING HOT!! She is a gymnast,” Hungerford wrote.

The Hungerford case is the latest in a string of allegations involving sex crimes and gymnasts in Michigan.

David Yellen, a teenage gymnastics photographer from Royal Oak, was convicted of distributing child pornography. He is awaiting sentencing in federal court after prosecutors said he spent two decades taking photos of the bare feet and genitals of nearly 1,100 young gymnasts wearing leotards.

Yellen is portrayed in court filings as a predator with a foot fetish who victimized children as young as 3 in the nation’s gymnastics community at the same time as former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Nassar was accused of sexually assaulting more than 500 young women, teenage and prepubescent girls under the guise of medical treatment over more than two decades, and is serving a life sentence.

In the Hungerford case, investigators say he sent Nebraska photos of a child’s leotard and an iPad screen that appeared to be a half-naked, prepubescent girl in late November.

In late January, Hungerford shared a video of a prepubescent girl walking her dogs and doing gymnastics moves while wearing a leotard or leotard, according to the affidavit. He also shared a voice message.

“I want to touch that little girl so bad,” a male voice says during the message, according to the FBI agent.

The court filing alleges that in conversations in late January, Hungerford and the Nebraska native talked about whether they would sexually abuse a child.

“It’s very seductive. “I think I could have done it if he had been drugged,” Hungerford wrote. “That way no one would ever find out.”

The criminal case speaks of another conversation.

Hungerford wrote that he was watching children outside a dance studio on Nov. 6, according to the FBI agent.

“Do I have a boyfriend?” He wrote on the subject of Nebraska.

“…oh god yes,” Hungerford wrote.

Hungerford explained that he did not take any photos or videos that day.

“I park outside where parents park for obvious reasons,” he wrote. “I can see them coming and going MUCH better, but they’re a little further away. Next time I’ll get in the mix, too.”

The agent alleged that between November and March, Hungerford sent messages to underage girls that their windows were being looked into, their homes were broken into and their underwear was stolen.

“He claimed that one of the girls recorded sexually explicit videos of herself with her boyfriend,” Eastham wrote.

“I’ve been spying on him and his little sister for about 6 months,” Hungerford wrote in one conversation. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to spy on him.

“I recorded her in a VERY intimate moment with herself and her boyfriend,” Hungerford added.

Other messages described attempts to watch the girls from their windows at night, according to the FBI.

“He stated that he believed the younger girl was a freshman or sophomore in high school and the older girl was probably a senior in high school,” the FBI agent said. he wrote.

According to the government, Hungerford’s actions escalated in December.

The agent claimed that on Christmas Eve, Hungerford broke into the girls’ home “while the family was away.”

According to the FBI agent, “He sent pictures of girls’ clothes, including underwear that he said he stole from the older girl’s bedroom.” “He said he was considering returning while the family was away because he wanted to ‘take advantage of this opportunity and get into the BR of the young people.'”

During the conversation, Hungerford wrote that he lived on a lake in West Michigan and worked as a construction superintendent. Property records show Hungerford lived in a 3,400-square-foot home overlooking Whispering Springs Lake, about 10 miles southwest of Grand Rapids.

The home sold for $676,900 earlier this month.

The investigation was intensified in May.

On May 2, FBI agents obtained subscriber information for the “Barry Sanders” account, which was exchanging messages with the Nebraska subject. An Internet protocol address associated with the account was linked to Hungerford’s home.

“Hungerford admitted to having child pornography on his cell phone and tablet, as well as two USB drives in his pocket,” the FBI agent wrote.

“(Hungerford) admitted that he was attracted to girls ages 8 to 14 and took photos of children in public places such as parks and stores,” according to the affidavit. “He also watched children in the dance studio parking lot.”

According to the testimony, Hungerford admitted during the interview that he broke into the home of two families with children aged 9 to 18 and “stole various clothing items and underwear from the children living there.”

“One of the houses watched the minors through the window several times at night and claimed to have recorded a video of a girl he thought was 16 or 17,” the agent wrote. “He also admitted to breaking into a high school girl’s locker room at an after-school event and stealing underwear from the lockers.”

The name of the high school was not mentioned in the court filing. Without identifying Hungerford, Grandville Superintendent Roger Bearup notified community members in May that school officials were conducting an investigation and had issued a “no trespassing” warrant against a member of the community.

“Like all of our parents, he does not have unsupervised access to our school during the school day, but has been in our buildings for athletic events and meetings outside of school hours,” Bearup wrote. “We have no evidence that he actually entered the girls’ locker room at Grandville High School, but we are investigating.”

FBI agents searched Hungerford’s home in May and found “a large quantity of children’s underwear and clothing,” according to the affidavit.

Investigators also examined USB drives found in Hungerford’s pocket.

“Multiple folders with names indicating child pornography and child pornography websites were observed,” the representative wrote. “In some folders, images and films of possible known child pornography victims were observed, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.”

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