Lookout Mountain Man Sentenced To 28 Years Imprisonment For Sexual Exploitation Of A Child

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - On April 16, 2026, Patrick Bryant Hawley, 44, of Lookout Mountain, TN, was sentenced to 340 months in prison by Chief Judge Travis R. McDonough in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Following his imprisonment, he will be on supervised release for 20 years and he will be required to register with applicable sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions during his supervised release. Hawley was also ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution.

As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Hawley agreed to plead guilty to one count of exploitation of a child in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a).

According to filed court documents, Hawley knowingly exploited a minor victim, who was then fourteen years old, causing her to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Hawley met his minor victim online, and within minutes of the meeting, their conversation turned to sexual matters. Hawley indicated to his victim that no age was "too young" for his desires. After receiving sexually explicit images of his victim, Hawley told her: "I need to see your face, and I need to see your contours."

Hawley continued communicating with his victim, acknowledging multiple times that she was a minor. Among other things, he sent his victim images and videos of himself masturbating and of other minors engaged in sexual acts and acts of bestiality.

Hawley's correspondence with his victim included instructions for her to record and show him her use of a sex toy. When the victim balked, Hawley referred to her by a vulgar epithet and told her to "rape yourself with it." The victim hesitated, but Hawley described another sexually explicit act he wanted to see her perform, and ultimately, she complied, sending him videos of her performing such acts.

U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee; Special Agent in Charge, Terence G. Reilly of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"); and Acting Special Agent in Charge, Colin Jackson, of Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI"), made the announcement.

The criminal indictment was the result of a joint investigation by the HSI and FBI.

Assistant United States Attorney Jay Woods represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

###