A federal judge last week sentenced Thomas Alan Arthur, 65, to 40 years in federal prison for operating a website dedicated to publishing writings that detailed the sexual abuse of children.

On Jan. 21 a jury convicted Arthur of three counts of trafficking in obscene visual representations of sexual abuse of a child, five counts of trafficking in obscene text stories about sexual abuse of children, and one count of engaging in the business of selling obscene matters involving sexual abuse of children.

According to trial evidence, Arthur began operating the Mr. Double website in 1996, and began charging members for access to the site in 1998. The website was dedicated to publishing writings that detailed sexual abuse of children. The evidence at trial showed that all submissions for publication were reviewed and approved by Arthur before he posted them on the site.

Evidence showed that the website was Arthur’s sole source of income for more than 20 years. The site was taken offline in November 2019 when the FBI executed a search warrant at his residence near Terlingua where Arthur administered the site.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge David Counts ordered that Arthur pay a $50,000 fine, and be placed on supervised release for a period of three years after completing his prison term. Counts also granted the criminal forfeiture to the government of Arthur’s residential property, cash proceeds, the website, and numerous electronics he used to carry out his scheme.