VALDOSTA, Ga. — A resident of Valdosta pled guilty to offenses related to production of child pornography.
Henry Theodore Salmons, age 48, pled guilty to two counts of producing child pornography before U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson on Monday.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s United States Attorney’s Office Middle District of Georgia announced the guilty pleas Tuesday.
According to court documents, Salmons admitted to enticing two children under the age of 10 to engage in sexually explicit acts, which were filmed or photographed in April and July 2021.
Salmons could be sentenced to a minimum of 15 years in federal prison and maximum of 30 years for each offense he pled guilty to.
He is subject to five years to life on supervised release, a maximum $250,000 fine and will have to register as a sex offender when he exits prison.
Salmons’ sentencing date is July 20.
“Forcing children to engage in sex, filming the crimes and sharing the assaults with others is an unconscionable heinous act that deserves the maximum punishment,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary in a statement. “For the protection of the minor victims, the horrific details will remain under the court’s seal; but, let me be clear that the criminal actions of Ted Salmons and other child sexual predators like him will not remain in the shadows but will be brought to the light of full justice.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (HSI) and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn Semales is prosecuting the case.
“In my more than two decades in law enforcement, I have never seen so much crime involving children as now, which I suspect is due to the prevalence of social media. I am thankful that we have great cooperation between our federal, state and local law enforcement agencies—plus strong federal prosecutors—that help us investigate child sexual exploitation and abuse cases and bring these criminals to justice,” said Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk in a statement.
