Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution of Child Pornography

WASHINGTON—James Wendell Brown, 51, of Warrenton, Virginia, pled guilty today to a federal charge of distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr.; Debra Evans Smith, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Brown entered the guilty plea in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Honorable Richard J. Leon is to sentence him on April 23, 2013. Brown faces a maximum sentence of 20 years of imprisonment as well as a fine of $250,000. Under federal sentencing guidelines, he faces a likely sentencing range of between 151 and188 months in prison.

According to the government’s evidence, on March 5, 2012, Brown contacted a man he believed to be the father of a 12-year-old girl on a social network site. That man turned out to be an undercover officer with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. Over the next few days, Brown engaged in online e-mail and instant message conversations with the undercover officer. During this period of time, Brown sent the undercover officer three images of child pornography that depicted adult men engaged in sexual acts with children. During the course of his conversations with the undercover officer, Brown acknowledged having sexually abused young children in the past.

This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen, Acting Assistant Director in Charge Smith, and Chief Lanier praised the MPD detectives and special agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Last and Ari Redbord, who are prosecuting the case.