Valdosta man sentenced to 60 years in prison on child sex charges
Jul. 23—VALDOSTA — A Valdosta man who produced child sexual assault material involving two young children has been sentenced to the statutory maximum prison sentence of 60 years in prison.
Henry Theodore Salmons, aka Ted, 48, of Valdosta, was sentenced to serve a total of 720 months in prison (the statutory maximum of 360 months imprisonment per count) to be followed by 25 years of supervised release and pay $150,000 in restitution to each of the two minor victims by U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson after he previously pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child pornography. In addition, Salmons will have to register as a sex offender upon his release from federal prison. There is no parole.
"Ted Salmons will spend the rest of his life in prison, where he will no longer be able to sexually assault children and film their horrific suffering," U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said. "Our office and our law enforcement partners have an unwavering commitment to protect children from exploitation; we will use every resource at our disposal to track down dangerous sex offenders who target children and bring them to 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," Special Agent in Charge Katrina Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations operations in Georgia and Alabama, said. "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."
"The U.S. Marshals and our K-9 unit helped us track down and take this defendant into custody; and thanks to our federal partners, we were able to build a good case against him," Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk said. "With this sentence, Ted Salmons will not see the light of day in Lowndes County again."
According to court documents, Salmons admitted that he enticed two minor children under the age of 10 to engage in sexually explicit acts, which were filmed or photographed in April and July 2021. For the protection of the minor victims, Salmons' 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. Learn more at www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn Semales prosecuted the case with support from Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McCullers.
