TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A St. Augustine man was found guilty Friday of producing and possessing child sex abuse material along with hacking an NFL jumbotron, according to the Department of Justice.
Samuel Arthur Thompson, 53, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years in prison.
According to evidence, Thompson sodomized a 14-year-old Alabama child in 1998.
In 2013 while working with the Jacksonville Jaguars, he installed remote access software on the a spare server and controlled the jumbotrons during three 2018 season NFL games, causing the boards to repeatedly malfunction. The FBI was able to trace the IP address to Thompson’s home.
In 2019, the FBI seized several computers that had thousands of images and hundreds of videos of child sex abuse material, including bondage and torture. They also found a firearm, which he couldn’t possess due to being a convicted felon.
In a photo and video series, Thompson could be heard speaking to the kids, aged 7, 8, and 10 at the time who were in his care, at the beginning of the video, which was taken in his living room.
It was revealed that he had molested two of the three children and encouraged them to play a “game” where they were required to remove their clothing and run around the home.
Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced on March 25.