KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Blount County man was sentenced to 189 months, or nearly 16 years, in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple child pornography-related charges. Julian Paul Gerdeman, 26, was convicted of two counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of and access with intent to view child pornography. Upon completion of his sentence, Gerdeman will be placed on lifetime supervised release and will be required to register with state sex offender registries. He will also face special sex offender conditions as part of his parole.
The case began in August 2023, when the Maryville Police Department received a tip about a Google user who had uploaded child pornography to their cloud storage. The investigation led authorities to Gerdeman, whose Google account was traced to his mother’s home address in Maryville, where he was reportedly living in the unattached garage at the time.
Following a search warrant executed on August 21, 2023, Gerdeman’s electronic devices were seized and examined by law enforcement. Forensic analysis of the devices revealed a disturbing collection of 4,324 images of child pornography, in addition to videos of similar content that Gerdeman had received on multiple occasions.
The investigation was spearheaded by Detective Thomas Evans of the Homeland Security Investigations Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (HSI-ICAC), alongside Detective Clayton Hall of the Maryville Police Department (MPD). The Knoxville Police Department and Alcoa Police Department also provided assistance during the investigation and prosecution.
In a related development, Gerdeman’s mother, Diane Elizabeth Lashmit, has been charged with tampering with evidence and being an accessory after the fact. Authorities accuse Lashmit of attempting to alter evidence found on her son’s electronic devices. Her trial is set to begin on July 15, 2025.
This case highlights the ongoing efforts by law enforcement to combat online child exploitation, with several agencies working together to bring perpetrators to justice.
