Man Who Photographed Molestation Gets 10 Years

A Lancaster man who photographed himself molesting a 2-year-old girl was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in state prison.

Thomas Cook, 33, who was arrested after authorities identified him through the photographs, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of conducting a lewd act on a child involving the 2-year-old and another young victim, Deputy Dist. Atty. Pamela Rhodes said. “What you have is a memorializing of the crime” on film, Rhodes said. “It’s akin to somebody videotaping themselves committing a bank robbery.”

The 2-year-old had been left in Cook’s care while the girl’s mother went shopping, Rhodes said. Using a fake name, Cook took the film to a local drugstore to be developed, Rhodes said. Film laboratory workers notified authorities, as state law requires them to do if they find pictures of children engaged in sexual conduct.