Valley man sentenced to 170 years in prison for child sexual exploitation
Mar 5, 2024, 11:00 AM
A Valley man was sentenced on March 1, 2024, to 170 years in prison for his role in possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material. (AP File Photo)
(AP File Photo)
PHOENIX — A Valley man was recently sentenced to 170 years in prison for his role in possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material, authorities announced.
Timothy Burton McGee, 56, was sentenced on Friday after he was found guilty of 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor on Jan. 11, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said. He will serve 17 years in prison for each count, with the terms to run consecutively.
“While we don’t know any of the victims in this case, we do know the trauma and harm each of them carries is immeasurable,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a press release.
“These crimes take place in the shadows, but it is up to us to shine a light and make sure these predators are held accountable. It is my prayer that these victims know someone is on their side fighting for them.”
Here’s how the child sexual predator was caught
Prosecutors said authorities were alerted about McGee in 2019 and 2020 by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after he downloaded child sexual abuse material. There were at least two Dropbox accounts connected to the same IP address tied to McGee’s home that contained over 600 child sexual abuse material files.
Those files contained images of the sexual abuse and rape of young children, including toddlers and infants.
McGee logged onto both Dropbox accounts in 2019 and 2020 from his home, workplace and church, prosecutors said.
Further, when a search warrant was served at McGee’s residence in June 2020, detectives found his laptop that contained nearly 1,200 child sexual abuse material files, prosecutors said.
“This sentence is appropriate given the defendant’s lack of remorse for his actions,” Mitchell said in the release. “I commend the work of our prosecutors and the Phoenix Police Department in ensuring this defendant is no longer a threat to our children and community.”
Anyone who needs to report child sexual exploitation or child sexual abuse material is asked to call their local law enforcement agency and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
