A former bartender from St. Charles County, Missouri, has pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography and installing hidden cameras in a previous residence. Anthony Thomas, 49, admitted in court on Thursday that he possessed thousands of media files containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), as well as additional files with images where the age of those depicted could not be easily determined.
According to court documents, Thomas also acknowledged placing concealed cameras in both the bathroom and bedroom of a prior home. The devices were disguised as a smoke detector and an outlet extension plug. Both cameras captured images of a 14-year-old girl.
The investigation began in December 2024 when agents with Homeland Security Investigations discovered that CSAM was being made available for download via the BitTorrent peer-to-peer network from St. Charles County. Law enforcement later conducted a court-approved search at Thomas’ residence and seized multiple electronic devices containing illegal material.
Homeland Security Investigations worked with the St. Charles County Regional SWAT Team on this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is leading the prosecution.
The prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at addressing child sexual exploitation online through coordinated efforts among federal, state, and local agencies. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
