Moorpark man sentenced to 140 months for attempting to solicit sexual images online from person he thought was a child Monday
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Thomas Kern Gissell of Moorpark was sentenced Monday to 140 months in federal prison for soliciting sexually explicit images from somebody he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
Gissell, 29, was also placed on 20 years of supervised release after he has served his prison sentence as well as ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution and $5,100 in special assessments detail the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Previously, Gissell pleaded guilty on Jan. 5 of this year to one count of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity explain the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Gissell further admitted during his plea agreement to sending the person he believed to be a 14-year-old child images of a lingerie gift card and images of lingerie he wanted her to purchase with the gift card he provided detail the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office began investigating Gissell after he had asked undercover law enforcement officers who were posing as teenage girls to send him nude photos in online chats.
In August and September of 2022, Gissell knowingly attempted to entice a person he believed to be 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity said the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Gissell was originally arrested in February of 2023 and the case was eventually presented to the U.S. Attorney's Office which filed the federal complaint in late February 2023.
This investigation is the first criminal case brought by the Ventura County Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force which is comprised of investigators and prosecutors from local and federal law enforcement personnel explain the U.S. Attorney's Office.
