Virginia Man Sentenced to 360 Months for Production of Child Pornography
A Virginia man was sentenced to 360 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for production of child pornography, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle of the Western District of Virginia.
LaMarcus Thomas, 33, of Winchester, Virginia, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography. Chief U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski presided over the sentencing.
Through the course of an investigation by the Winchester Police Department on other charges, Thomas was discovered to have multiple images and videos of child pornography, involving two different minor victims, contained in his cellular phone. When interviewed by the FBI, Thomas admitted to producing the images and videos of child pornography.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Winchester Police Department, and Virginia State Police aided with the forensic analysis of digital media.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Healey of the Western District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Leslie Williams Fisher of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.