After an investigation by the Jackson County Alabama Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, on January 24, 2025, James C. Thompson, 72, formerly of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, was sentenced to 20 years in prison For Transportation of a Minor In Interstate Commerce with the Intent to Engage in Sexual Activity. The sentencing occurred in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Thompson was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and to serve three years on supervised release. In addition, Thompson will be required to register with state sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions during his supervised release.
As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Thompson agreed to plead guilty to an information charging him with four counts of transportation of a minor in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in sexual activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a).
According to court-filed documents, in 2000, Thompson traveled on separate occasions with three different boys and sexually molested them. Thompson was 48 years old at the time, and the young boys were less than 18 years old. Thompson drove them from the community where they lived, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, to different out-of-state locations. When Thompson’s conduct was discovered, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation confronted Thompson, and he confessed.