Florida child molester who hacked NFL Jumbotron sentenced

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A St. Augustine man was found guilty Friday of producing and possessing child abuse material and hacking an NFL Jumbotron, according to the Department of Justice.

Samuel Arthur Thompson, 53, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years in prison.

According to the evidence, Thompson sodomized a 14-year-old Alabama child in 1998.

While working with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2013, he installed remote access software on a backup server and controlled the jumbotrons during three NFL games of the 2018 season, causing the backboards to malfunction repeatedly. The FBI was able to trace the IP address to Thompson’s home.

In 2019, the FBI seized multiple computers containing thousands of images and hundreds of videos containing child abuse material, including bondage and torture. They also found a firearm, which he could not possess because he was a convicted felon.

In a series of photos and videos, at the beginning of the video, which was shot in his living room, Thompson could be heard talking to the children, ages 7, 8 and 10, who were in his care at the time.

It emerged that he had abused two of the three children, encouraging them to play a “game” that required them to take off their clothes and run around the house.

Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced March 25.