Angola Man Sentenced to 92 Months in Prison

FORT WAYNE –Nolan Thomas, 36 years old, of Angola, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Thomas was sentenced to 92 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, in December 2022, law enforcement received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding child sexual abuse material being uploaded to an online storage site. After investigation, law enforcement determined the origin of the upload to be an account associated with Thomas. After obtaining a search warrant in January 2023 for Thomas’ Angola home, law enforcement recovered evidence of Thomas’ possession of child sexual abuse material.  During a post-Miranda interview, Thomas admitted to viewing child sexual abuse material. 

This case was investigated by the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Angola Police Department and the Lagrange Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley J. Miller Lowery.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.