A man who prosecutors called "extraordinarily disturbed" was sentenced to 30 years in prison after a hearing in Texarkana on Wednesday, the Texarkana Gazette reported.
U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey heard testimony the day before from a number of witnesses regarding Nathan Karl Thomas' reported sexual, physical and psychological abuse of two teen girls and his obsession with child pornography.
Thomas, 25, pleaded guilty in March 2016 to two counts of receipt of child pornography as part of a plea arrangement in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyra Jenner and Ben Wulff had urged Hickey to assess a maximum 40-year sentence while Thomas' lawyer, Federal Public Defender Bruce Eddy, asked for a 10-year term.
"The defendant is an extraordinarily disturbed, deviant sexual offender who is a serial 'hands-on' offender against minors, as evidenced by the [Pre-Sentence Investigation Report's] descriptions of his sexual assaults on minors," Jenner wrote in a court filing. "The defendant seeks victims he can influence and dominate so that they will produce the type of illicit images he requests. The defendant poses a danger to society, specifically, to minors, who are significantly less physically and psychologically capable of recognizing and protecting themselves from the defendant's manipulation and guile."
Witnesses testified that Thomas preyed upon two teen girls when they were 14 and 15. The witnesses gave accounts of bondage, assault, sodomy and more. Thomas was said to have coerced the girls into creating pornographic images of themselves by threatening to withdraw his attention and affection.
One of the victims testified Tuesday that she now becomes alarmed when she sees a man walking with a child as she fears the child is being sexually abused. Hickey heard victim impact statements Wednesday from the father of one victim and the mother of another.
"Do you know what a failure as a parent I feel like? God trusted me with this angel on Earth and I couldn't protect her from a deviant child predator," Jenner read from the mother's statement. "This man has destroyed her childhood as well as our relationship for many years."
The father who testified struggled to fight tears as he spoke.
"As a 15-year-old, [my daughter] was smart, enthusiastic and talented with her high school future on the brink of becoming outstanding and exceptional," the father said.
The father said his daughter was never the same after she ran away one night to meet Thomas
"Let's be honest. This case will haunt us and my family will suffer because of it for many years to come," the father said.
The father said he was asked to estimate the financial cost of Thomas' abuse of his child. He said he considered the cost of retrieving his daughter from far-away locations after she'd left home without a word, the cost of mental health treatment and medical care.
"When the devil enters your home and lays the foundation of deceit, physical abuse and corruption, what's the cost to drive the evil away; $10,000, $100,000, a million dollars," the father asked. "I was in the military and I served in the Middle East on three different occasions. I know what evil looks like and I know what Mr. Thomas is."