Man Gets 40 Years For Exploiting Girls, Sexually Assaulting Fairfax County Victims

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — A Virginia man arrested by Fairfax County police after sexually assaulting two minors was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for exploiting dozens of girls, according to federal prosecutors.

Malachi Morgan Thomas, 24, pleaded guilty in April to producing and possessing child sexual abuse material. Prosecutors said Thomas coerced about 41 girls between 12 and 17 years old into sexually explicit conduct after hacking and stealing a minor's Snapchat account.

The Fairfax County connection led investigators to evidence used in the federal case. Police arrested Thomas on rape and sodomy charges involving two minors on Oct. 1, 2020.

With help from Prince William County police, investigators searched his Woodbridge home and found a phone containing dozens of sexually explicit images and videos of children, including recordings of Thomas sexually assaulting two Fairfax County victims.

Federal prosecutors said Thomas used threats and psychological manipulation to control victims, directing them to send sexually explicit material and engage in sexual conduct during live video calls. He claimed to lead a criminal organization and threatened to hack the girls' accounts or harm them and their families if they did not comply.

Thomas also met some of the girls in person. In June 2020, prosecutors said he traveled to one victim's home, sexually assaulted her and recorded the attack. Police later discovered the video on one of his phones.

The following month, Thomas went to a Virginia shopping mall to meet another girl he had exploited on Snapchat, prosecutors said. The girl's father learned what was happening and went to the mall instead. Police responded and seized Thomas' phone.

“Thomas’ pursuit of his victims was reprehensible and unrelenting,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani Stamos said in a statement. “We are committed to using all tools at our disposal to protect children from exploitation and to prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law.”

The FBI's Washington Field Office investigated the federal case.