A 23-year-old Oregon man who made threatening phone calls claiming he was engaging in child sexual abuse was sentenced Tuesday to seven years and three months in federal prison.
Thomas Loren Goatley, of Umatilla, claimed during calls to elementary schools, police departments, animal shelters and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that he was sexually assaulting young children, according to the prosecutor. In a phone call to an elementary school in New Castle, Wyoming, he claimed he was abusing a student he had abducted from the school, sending all New Castle schools into lockdown, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Mira Chernick’s sentencing memo.
When Goatley was arrested in July 2024, he possessed roughly 50 images and 40 videos of child sex abuse. Investigators learned he had been using Instagram, Facebook, Discord and X to view, receive and distribute child sex-abuse images between September 2023 and late April 2024, according to Chernick.
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon accepted the sentence jointly recommended by the federal prosecutor and defense lawyer.
Chernick noted that while the crimes were “quite serious,” Goatley was fairly young when he made the calls in 2024.
This past summer, Goatley pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography and four counts of making obscene or harassing telephone calls.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Michelle Sweet told the judge that Goatley accepted responsibility shortly after his arrest.
“I have no reasonable excuse for my actions. I deeply apologize,” Goatley said at his sentencing.
He told the judge he will spend his time in custody working to improve himself and learn healthier coping methods “to ensure I never repeat the harms I caused.”
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