Federal prosecutors in Oregon announced Tuesday that a 23-year-old man from Umatilla has been sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse material and for making harassing phone calls in which he falsely claimed to be sexually abusing children. Thomas Goatley will also serve five years of supervised release after his prison term, U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford said. The sentence comes after Goatley pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography and four counts of making obscene or harassing telephone calls. The case is disturbing not only because of the nature of the crimes, but because it shows how a person can use everyday technology to cause harm. Goatley used Instagram, Facebook, Discord, and X to view, receive, and distribute child sexual abuse material between at least September 2023 and April 2024. He also used the telephone to make anonymous calls to schools, police departments, emergency dispatch centers, animal shelters, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In those calls, he described acts of abuse that were entirely fabricated. The calls were not harmless pranks. They caused schools to lock down, police to respond to false emergencies, and people who work to protect children to experience fear and frustration. At 23, Goatley is at an age when many people are starting careers and families. Instead, he will spend more than seven years in federal prison. The sentence is a reminder that online actions and anonymous words can have very real, very public consequences.
According to court documents, Goatley’s online activity involving child sexual abuse material took place from at least September 2023 through April 2024. He used multiple online platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Discord, and X, to view, receive, and distribute the material. When he was arrested in July 2024, investigators found approximately 50 images and 40 videos depicting the sexual abuse of children in his possession. Those numbers may seem small compared with some federal cases, but each file represents a real child. The term “child sexual abuse material” is preferred by many advocates and prosecutors because it emphasizes that the images are not simply “pornography”—they are evidence of sexual violence against children. The legal charge still uses the older term “child pornography,” but the reality is that no child can consent to being filmed or photographed in this way. By distributing the material, Goatley did not simply keep it for himself; he helped spread it to others, increasing the audience for the abuse and making it more likely that the images would continue to circulate for years. Every time such an image is shared, the child in it is victimized again. The FBI investigated the case and eventually traced the activity to Goatley. His arrest in July 2024 ended his access to the images, at least physically, but the harm to the children in those files cannot be undone by an arrest. The files themselves are permanent records of the worst moments of a child’s life, and the knowledge that strangers have seen them is a burden that survivors often carry for decades.
The second part of the case is harder to understand. Court records show that Goatley made numerous anonymous harassing phone calls to schools, police departments, emergency dispatch centers, animal shelters, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. During these calls, he falsely claimed to be sexually abusing children and provided fabricated details about the alleged abuse. In one incident, he repeatedly contacted an elementary school in Helena, Montana, claiming he was abusing a student. In another incident, he called an elementary school in Newcastle, Wyoming, and falsely reported that he had abducted and was abusing a student. The calls prompted schools in Newcastle to go into lockdown while multiple law enforcement agencies worked to identify the caller. Think about what that means. A school secretary answers the phone. A voice says something horrifying. The secretary has to decide whether it is real. The school goes into lockdown. Teachers lock doors, turn off lights, and tell children to be quiet. Parents receive messages that there is a threat. Officers arrive. Then, eventually, they learn it was a hoax. The relief is real, but so is the fear. In another incident, Goatley contacted the Dearborn, Michigan, Police Department and falsely claimed he was abusing his 12-year-old daughter at a local hotel. Officers responded to the hotel, prepared to rescue a child. They determined that the hotel room he described did not exist. The officers did their job correctly, but the emotional cost of responding to a false report of child abuse is not something they can simply shrug off. They had to prepare themselves for the worst. The fact that the report was false does not erase the adrenaline, the concern, or the lingering unease.
Goatley also targeted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an organization that works around the clock to help find missing children and stop child exploitation. Between February 17 and April 8, 2024, he made 10 calls to NCMEC, falsely claiming he was abusing either his daughter or his sister. He frequently provided false identifying information during the calls. These calls are especially cruel because NCMEC’s mission depends on taking every report seriously. A hoax call can waste time and resources that might be needed for a real emergency. It also forces the people who answer those calls to listen to graphic, disturbing lies, which is a form of harassment. In August, Goatley waived indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography and four counts of making obscene or harassing telephone calls. By pleading guilty, he accepted responsibility in a legal sense. The judge then sentenced him to 87 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. In addition, Goatley was ordered to pay $1,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a $500 special assessment, and to forfeit the digital devices used in the crimes. The $1,000 payment is a formal acknowledgment of the harm he caused to an organization dedicated to protecting children. The forfeiture of his devices means that when he eventually leaves prison, he will not have the same tools he used to commit these offenses. The five years of supervised release will also allow authorities to monitor his behavior after prison. The plea and sentence do not erase the harm, but they do hold him accountable in a way that a simple fine or probation could not.
U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford summed up the significance of the sentence in a statement: “Individuals who distribute child sexual abuse material contribute to the ongoing exploitation of children, while false reports of child abuse divert critical law enforcement resources and create fear in communities. This sentence holds the defendant accountable for both harms.” The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mira Chernick prosecuted it for the District of Oregon. The sentence is an important step, but it cannot erase the damage. For the children in the images, the abuse is not over. The images continue to exist, and the knowledge that strangers have seen them is a lifelong burden. For the schools in Montana and Wyoming, the memory of a lockdown triggered by a lie remains. Teachers and students practiced safety procedures that day, and those procedures are necessary, but the emotional cost of a false alarm is not zero. For the police officers and dispatchers who responded, the calls were not just annoying interruptions; they were moments of genuine alarm. Every time a call comes in about a child in danger, the person on the other end has to decide how to respond. Goatley exploited that sense of duty for his own gratification. That is a form of cruelty that does not leave physical scars, but it leaves emotional ones. The case also shows how federal law enforcement can connect online activity to real-world behavior. The same digital devices that held the illegal images were likely used to make the harassing calls, leaving a trail that investigators could follow. This is an important reminder that the internet is not as anonymous as some people believe.
At 23, Goatley will spend the next seven years and three months in federal prison. He will have time to think about the children in the images he shared, the students who hid behind locked doors, the officers who searched for a hotel room that did not exist, and the NCMEC staff who had to listen to his lies. Whether he uses that time to change is up to him. But for the rest of us, this case is a reminder that online crimes are not victimless, and that words spoken into a phone can wound an entire community. It is also a reminder of the importance of organizations like NCMEC, which work every day to protect children, and of law enforcement agents who follow digital trails to find people like Goatley. For parents, it is a prompt to talk to children about online safety and to listen when something feels wrong. For everyone, it is a call to support efforts to combat child exploitation and to take false reports seriously. Justice cannot undo the harm that has been done. It cannot give the children in those images their innocence back, and it cannot erase the fear felt in those schools. But this sentence is a step toward accountability. It says, clearly and publicly, that exploiting children and weaponizing fear are crimes with consequences. The case is closed, but the work of protecting children goes on.