VALDOSTA, Ga. – A Valdosta man who produced child pornography involving two young children has pleaded guilty to his crime in federal court.
Henry Theodore Salmons aka Ted, 48, of Valdosta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child pornography before U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson on Monday, April 11. Salmons faces a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years in prison per count to be followed by five years to life on supervised release and a maximum $250,000 fine. In addition, Salmons will have to register as a sex offender upon his release from federal prison. There is no parole. Sentencing has been scheduled for 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. “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.”
“Finding and stopping predators like Salmons, that not only victimize innocent children, but also share those horrific images with others who delight in viewing this filth is one of our highest priorities,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “Thanks to the great work done by our agents along with our state, local and federal partners we were able to remove a serious threat from our community and we will continue to pursue those who commit these evil acts.”
“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.
According to court documents, Salmons admitted that he enticed two minor children under the age of ten years old to engage in sexually explicit acts which were filmed or photographed in April and July 2021. For the protection of the minor victims, Salmon’s guilty plea was sealed by the Court at the request of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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.