Suburban Chicago Man Sentenced to 48 Years in Federal Prison for Sexually Exploiting a Minor

A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to 48 years in federal prison for enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct.

Tercalo E. Thomas enticed, persuaded, and used a prepubescent minor to engage in illegal sexual conduct, which he recorded. Thomas then trafficked the images as barter to amass a vast collection of images of other children’s sexual abuse.

At the time of his arrest in April 2022, Thomas possessed on his cell phone more than 1,500 images depicting child sex abuse.

Thomas, 35, of Park Forest, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of possession of child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger imposed the 48-year prison sentence during a hearing on Jan. 22, 2026, in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

“Defendant was an avid collector of child exploitation images, particularly of prepubescent children,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly Moheb argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Unsatisfied by his depraved collection, he created his own. The seriousness of this offense cannot be overstated.”

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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