CHICAGO — An Oklahoma man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for producing sexually explicit images of children with whom he communicated online.
In several online conversations in 2014 and 2015, TODD NOBLE persuaded three minor girls to take sexually explicit photographs and videos of themselves. He then convinced the girls to send the images to him via text message or online messaging service. Several of the images depicted the victims’ private areas.
Noble was arrested in April 2015 after the parents of one of the girls, who lived in Evanston, discovered the images on their child’s iPhone.
Noble, 51, of Lindsay, Okla., pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of production of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood imposed the sentence Thursday in federal court in Chicago.
The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Defendant preyed upon the most innocent and vulnerable of victims – children,” Assistant U.S. Attorney April M. Perry argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Defendant invaded the sanctity of these girls’ homes, victimizing them when they were just yards away from their parents who believed that that their daughters were safe.”
The Evanston victim was eleven years old when Noble began communicating with her online. In numerous conversations over the course of several weeks, Noble asked her to take sexually explicit photos and videos of herself and send them to him. According to Noble’s plea agreement, in one conversation the girl told him she was “not so sure,” and that she had “never done it before.” Noble responded with instructions on how to make the images more sexually explicit, the plea agreement states.
Noble admitted in the plea agreement that he engaged in similar online conduct with minor girls from Texas and Oklahoma. Noble told those girls that he was a teenager, and he sent the Oklahoma victim a photograph of what appeared to be a teenage boy, the plea agreement states.
The government is represented by Ms. Perry.