Anthony Banks, 30, was handed down with a 40 year federal prison sentence on April 7, 2021 for committing child exploitation offenses involving his nine-month-old daughter in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The case was initiated by Homeland Security Investigations. Anthony, formerly of Kannapolis, North Carolina pleaded guilty to a superseding indictment charging him with transportation of child pornography and causing another person to transport and ship child pornography in interstate commerce.
Anthony sexually abused his nine-month-old biological daughter, created digital videos of the abuse, and traded several of the images with someone he met in an online room dedicated to sexually abusing animals. The person with whom Anthony swapped the images was located in east Tennessee.
Upon his release from prison, Anthony is subject to 10 years of supervised release and is required to register with state sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions.
Jerry C. Templet, Jr, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations, Nashville released this statement:
Each year, millions of children fall prey to sexual predators. Homeland Security Investigations agents make it a top priority to protect vulnerable children from victimization by working with their law enforcement partners to investigate predators involved with the production, distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material and ensure they are held accountable for their heinous actions. I commend our agents for their tireless efforts in this case, which resulted in a guilty plea and a lengthy federal prison sentence for the offender.
