Randall Tilton: Navy sailor gets 210 years for raping infants young as 4 months
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT: A Navy sailor was sentenced to 210 years in federal prison Tuesday, June 22, for sexually abusing seven infants and toddlers in one of the most disturbing cases in US history.
US District Judge Jeffrey Meyer told Randall Tilton, 32, that he was troubled that he chose "children under your complete whim and control" as victims and was not persuaded by Tilton's military service. Meyer said he wasn't sure Tilton would be rehabilitated in prison, and was concerned he could still inflict harm once released back into society.
The judge accepted prosecutors' recommendation to have Tilton serve his sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Devens, a federal prison in Massachusetts for male inmates requiring long-term mental health or medical care. As part of the sentence, Tilton was also ordered to pay more than $900,000 in restitution to his victims, the New Hampshire Union-Leader reported.
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Who is Randall Tilton?
Tilton is a New Hampshire native who was stationed at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton aboard the USS South Dakota, where he served as a machinist's mate 1st class. According to the Union-Leader, he waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty in December last year to child pornography offenses linked to the sexual abuse of two infants as young as 4 months old and five toddlers, aged about 3 years old.
According to the report, Tilton's criminal spree lasted nearly eight years and spanned three states -- California, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.
Tilton reportedly violently raped the infants and filmed the abuse before uploading videos to the dark web. Furthermore, he raped and recorded videos of a seven-year-old girl whose mother he met on a dating app. Tilton was also accused of taking pornographic photos of a Navy comrade's four-year-old daughter at a barbeque.
Speaking to investigators, Tilton revealed that he had abused his first infant victim more than 300 times. Prosecutors said that his rapes became increasingly violent and a video of his abuse was viewed more than 100,000 times on the dark web. The Navy sailor reportedly bragged on dark web forums about how much he enjoyed doing what he did.
"While it is hard to imagine what would lead a person to sexually abuse any child, it is inconceivable that a person could be so inherently evil as to prey upon infants. Randall Tilton, however, is the personification of that very evil," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford wrote in a 25-page sentencing memo. "It is difficult to overstate — or even to adequately state — the horrifying nature of Tilton's crimes," Gifford added, describing Tilton's crimes as "among the most horrific seen in this district."
According to prosecutors, Tilton wrote a letter from prison to someone he considers his grandfather. In it, he reportedly explained how much he enjoyed the abuse and in disturbing detail. "Tilton's own words, captured in comments he made in forums on the dark web and chilling letters sent from prison, demonstrate that he reveled in the abuse and brutality he inflicted," Gifford wrote.
While speaking to Groton Town Police, Tilton confessed that he had assaulted his first victim when she was just 6 months old. Investigators reportedly obtained more than 8,000 videos and photos of infants and toddlers being sexually abused over the course of several years. According to prosecutors, the abuse only ended with Tilton's arrest.