LaFollette Man Sentenced For Distribution Of Child Pornography

 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On February 18, 2021, Timothy Wayne Turben, 40, of LaFollette, Tennessee, was sentenced by the Honorable R. Leon Jordan, U.S.  District Judge, to serve 97 months in federal prison for knowingly distributing child pornography in interstate commerce. 

Following his imprisonment, Turben will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for five years and will be required to register with the state sex offender registry in any state in which he lives, works, or attends school.

The investigation began after a social media company notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that the defendant’s social media account was utilized to send child pornography to others through the internet. In October 2018, the FBI executed a federal search warrant and seized computer devices containing 75 digital videos and over 1000 images of child pornography from Turben’s residence. Turben confessed that he had sent child pornography to others with his social media account.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Morris represented the United States in court.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.