A U.S. District judge in Florida has sentenced a convicted sex offender to 220 years in federal prison for producing, receiving, and possessing child sex abuse material. The offender was also charged for hacking the jumbotron in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ stadium after his contract was not renewed when the team discovered he was a registered sex offender.
Samuel Arthur Thompson, 53, was sentenced for his offenses by U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis on Tuesday, as announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. Thompson was convicted by a federal jury in November 2023 for producing child sex abuse material, violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon while required to register as a sex offender.
Thompson had previously been convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Alabama in 1998, which led to his requirement to register as a sex offender.
The federal prosecutors revealed that Thompson was hired by the Jaguars in 2013 to assist in designing and installing the stadium’s main screen, and later he was responsible for operating it during game days.
“Thompson failed to report his conviction as required by his contract with the Jaguars. When the team found out about his conviction and status as a registered sex offender in January 2018, they decided not to renew his contract,” the release stated. “Before his contract expired in March 2018, Thompson installed remote access software on a spare server in the Jaguars’ server room. He used this to remotely access the computers controlling the Jumbotron during three NFL games in the 2018 season, causing malfunctions on the video boards.”
The Jaguars eventually discovered the intruder attempting to control the jumbotron during a game in December 2018 and traced the IP address back to Thompson’s residence with the help of the FBI.
During a search of Thompson’s home in July 2019, the FBI seized his computers and a firearm that he was prohibited from possessing as a convicted felon. They found evidence on his devices showing the remote access to the spare server and thousands of images and videos depicting child sex abuse material.
“Samuel Thompson has caused immense harm to innocent children through his repeated abuse and exploitation. He also exploited his employer by manipulating their systems with malicious software, which could have resulted in significant damage if undetected,” said Coult Markovsky, FBI Jacksonville’s acting special agent in charge.
In a statement released in November following Thompson’s conviction, the Jaguars expressed their gratitude to the prosecutors for their efforts on the case.
(Photo: Perry Knotts / Getty Images)
