ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — A local man is facing child pornography charges nearly a week after authorities searched a home in Isle of Wight County.

The Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that Thomas Sadler is facing several counts of production and distribution of child pornography following his arrest.

“You never know what goes on in the privacy of somebody’s home,” said Lieutenant Tommy Potter with Isle of Wight Sheriff’s Office.

And what deputies say was going in the home Courthouse Highway has them sick.

“There’s not a billboard in front of this guy’s house that says ‘hey I’m downloading child pornography,’ ” Potter added.

Seven months ago, Isle of Wight investigators got a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 

They were told there were a number of child porn pictures being shared from a computer inside the house.

Last week they raided the home.

“We were able to recover a number of electronics devices,” said Potter.

According to court records, deputies sized a computer, three tablets, 40 DVDs, a camcorder, cell phones and three hidden cameras.

“On those electronic devices there were images of prepubescent boys and girls, typically what we refer to as child pornography,” Potter added.

Deputies arrested Sadler.  Court paperwork says Sadler told investigators he traded and collected child porn and that he had thousands of images on his computer.

“Unfortunately in this case, our preliminary investigation leads us to believe
that this individual is also responsible for producing or manufacturing those images,” Potter said.

10 On Your Side was told there was one local 9-year-old victim, and Sadler is seen inappropriately touching the young girl in some of the images. Deputies believe there could be more victims out there.

Investigators tell 10 On Your Side that Sadler was mainly using Pinterest to share the images.

“I will say crimes of this nature causes our investigators to lose sleep at night, more than any other crimes that we investigate,” Potter added.  “We’ve got children here in the county or throughout the country that are victims of this crime.”

Sadler is being held in the Western Tidewater Regional Jail. He declined 10 On Your Side’s request for an interview.  Deputies say more charges are pending.

The sheriff’s office said additional charges are forthcoming as the investigation continues.