Former Tupelo Neurologist Sentenced for Downloading & Distributing Thousands of Child Sexual Abuse Materials

GREENVILLE, Miss. - A Pakistani national and former neurologist was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for distributing and possessing child sexual abuse materials.

According to court documents, Ali Ahmad, 38, of Tupelo, Mississippi plead guilty to using applications and the internet to download and distribute images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children identified Ahmad, a Neurologist at the North Mississippi Medical Center prior to this charge, as a perpetrator on at least one application. The Lee County Sheriff's Department led the investigation and secured search warrants for Ahmad's profile on the application, as well as his residence. Investigators encountered extensive child pornography on Ahmad's application profile, as well as "selfie" style images depicting Ahmad in various sexual poses.

Chief Judge Debra M. Brown sentenced Ahmad to 144 months of incarceration, 5 years supervision and ordered to pay $112,000.00 in restitution to the victims of his offense. This is $4,000 rewarded to each identified minor child that requested restitution and provided documentation to support that request.

Because of his arrest on state charges, Ali Ahmad's work visa has been revoked, therefore, he will be deported after serving his sentence. Ahmad's state charges are also still pending.

"Silence in the face of evil allows evil to flourish," states US Attorney Scott F. Leary. "Some argue there is no such thing as evil, that it is simply a human construct. They are wrong. Child exploitation to satisfy distorted adult appetites is evil. Child pornography is evil. There is a moral responsibility to take action when a society, or person, confronts evil. Good men and women stepped forward in this case and confronted the evil of child pornography. I want to first applaud the Lee County Sheriff's Office. They stepped forward and their professional response to this crime was invaluable. I also want to commend prosecutor Parker King. We are blessed in the Northern District of Mississippi to have the most capable Project Safe Childhood [PSC] prosecutors in the nation, and Parker King is one of them. I hope the citizens of the Northern District of Mississippi understand that we work for them. The PSC initiative is an important component of our service to you. PSC is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices, PSC marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims."

"The Lee County Sheriff's Office is committed to protecting our community's most vulnerable members," said Lee County Sheriff Jim H. Johnson. "We are pleased to announce that Mr. Ahmad has been brought to justice in federal court. Cases involving child victims are of utmost importance to our agency, and we remain steadfast in our efforts to ensure their safety and well-being. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the Mississippi Attorney General's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the Northern District of Mississippi Assistant United States Attorney Parker King for her invaluable collaboration and dedication throughout this case. As the matter now proceeds at the state level, we look forward to its resolution and reaffirm our pledge to pursue justice for victims of child exploitation. We hope this case stands as a clear message to the public: the exploitation of children will not be tolerated in Lee County, and we will employ every legal resource available to hold offenders accountable."