Trigger Warning: Child Sexual Abuse Material
Man Sentenced to 8 ½ Years After Pleading Guilty to 10 Counts of Possessing Illicit Images, Videos of Children
NORFOLK, Va. — Thomas Vernon Patnode, 35, was sentenced on Friday to serve eight and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to 10 counts of possessing child pornography last year.
In September 2024, Norfolk Police detectives were notified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual in Norfolk had uploaded images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM; referred to under Virginia law as child pornography) on his Kik Messenger app. The images and videos depicted toddlers and young children in the nude and engaged in sexual acts. The detectives’ investigation led them to identify the Kik account owner as Mr. Patnode, and they secured search warrants for Mr. Patnode’s home address and devices.
On Feb. 5, police searched Mr. Patnode’s home, took him into custody, and recovered two cell phones from inside his bedroom. After being read his Miranda rights, Mr. Patnode admitted to detectives that the two phones contained CSAM, investigators extracted the contents of those phones, and they verified the presence of the CSAM on his phones.
On July 2, Mr. Patnode entered an agreement to plead guilty to one count of possessing child pornography as well as nine counts of subsequent-offense possession of child pornography and face an active sentence of up to eight years and six months in prison. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Mr. Patnode’s plea agreement and, after hearing sentencing arguments from the defense and the prosecution on Friday, sentenced Mr. Patnode to serve the maximum eight years and six months. Judge LeCruise suspended an additional 12 years and six months in prison on the conditions that Mr. Patnode complete five years of uniform good behavior, complete an indeterminate period of supervised probation, register as a sex offender, and undergo sex offender treatment following his release.
“Mr. Patnode may not have abused children himself, but by consuming and sharing child sex abuse material with others he has perpetuated the harm against innocent children,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “We have secured a sentence against Mr. Patnode that will protect children and the community from his actions, and we will continue to focus our resources on the people most likely to harm others in our city.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney J. Drew Fairbanks prosecuted Mr. Patnode’s case, and Norfolk Police Detective David A. Benjamin led the investigation.
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July 22, 2025
Trigger Warning: Child Sexual Abuse Material
Man Pleads Guilty to 10 Counts of Possessing Illicit Images, Videos of Children
NORFOLK, Va. — Thomas Vernon Patnode, 35, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of possessing child pornography after a cyber tip from a messaging app company alerted authorities to the presence of illicit images and videos on his cell phones last year.
On Sept. 15, 2024, Norfolk Police detectives were notified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual in Norfolk had uploaded images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM; referred to under Virginia law as child pornography) on his Kik Messenger app. The images and videos depicted toddlers and young children in the nude and engaged in sexual acts. The detectives’ investigation led them to identify the Kik account owner as Mr. Patnode, and they secured search warrants for Mr. Patnode’s home address and devices.
On Feb. 5, police searched Mr. Patnode’s home, took him into custody, and recovered two cell phones from inside his bedroom. After being read his Miranda rights, Mr. Patnode admitted to detectives that the two phones contained CSAM, investigators extracted the contents of those phones, and they verified the presence of the CSAM on his phones.
On July 2, Mr. Patnode entered an agreement to plead guilty to one count of possessing child pornography as well as nine counts of subsequent-offense possession of child pornography and face an active sentence of up to eight years and six months in prison. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Mr. Patnode’s plea agreement and set his sentencing hearing on Sept. 12.
“The receipt and sharing of Child Sexual Abuse Material perpetuates the harm to innocent children from sexual abuse,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Patnode harmed real victims with real feelings, and he will now face a prison sentence as a result. We will continue to work to protect the public from those who gratify themselves through the suffering of children.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney J. Drew Fairbanks is prosecuting Mr. Patnode’s case, and Norfolk Police Detective David A. Benjamin led the investigation.
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