A registered sex offender from Mount Kisco is back in custody after sexually explicit images of children were found on his phone, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Dustin Tompkins, 38, was charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of the receipt and distribution of child pornography, and one count of committing those offenses while being a registered sex offender, authorities said.
He faces between 25 to 50 years in prison if convicted of the first charge and between 15 years and 40 years for the second. Tompkins could also be sentenced to an additional 10 years behind bars because of his registered sex offender status.
According to Jamie McDonald, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Tompkins was detained on charges that he had violated the terms of his supervised release.
“The Southern District of New York will use every available tool to protect children,” McDonald said. “Dustin Tompkins represents every parent’s greatest fear: an adult who allegedly used social media to gain access to children and exploit them for his own sexual gratification.”
Tompkins appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause on Friday, Sept. 11, in White Plains federal court.
The complaint said that Tompkins had pleaded guilty on March 18, 2015, to receiving and distributing child pornography and was sentenced to 77 months in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release.
After serving that sentence, he was assessed as "Level 2" sex offender, which is someone who poses a moderate risk of re-offending.
Tompkins had been under supervised release this past January when probation officers conducting a routine visit discovered an "unsanctioned" smartphone hidden in his bedroom, the complaint said.
The new complaint also alleges that, while on supervision for that prior conviction for the receipt and distribution of child pornography, Tompkins used social media to communicate with minors and to persuade them to create and send him sexually explicit images.
He is also alleged to have amassed additional child pornography via social media applications.
According to authorities, the phone contained pornographic images of minors. A subsequent search found that Tompkins had created a messaging group using a social media application by which he received and viewed approximately 55 files containing child pornography, they said.
The complaint also alleges that Tompkins, using a second social media app, had posed as an adult woman and had exchanged messages with minor.
Last October, the complaint said, he directed a 13-year-old to engage in sexually explicit conduct, photographed the conduct, and sent the photograph to him. He made a similar request of a 16-year-old last December, according to authorities.
McDonald thanked Homeland Security Investigations from the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Probation Office for their assistance.
The case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samantha Briggs and John Wynne will oversee the prosecution.
McDonald urged anyone with information to report regarding the case to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or log onto https://tips.fbi.gov.
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