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Date: 08-16-2023
Case Style:
Case Number: 1:23-cr-00087
Judge: Anthony J. Trenga
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Fairfax County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in Alexandria
Defendant's Attorney: Damon Colbert
Description: Alexandria, Virginia criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with production and receipt of child porn.
Anthony Benton, 21, formerly of Manassas, came to the attention of law enforcement when he bought child sexual abuse material, including videos depicting the sexual abuse of children who appear to be as young as 5 years old, over Telegram. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at his home and discovered that Benton had used Omegle, a live-streaming video application, to regularly produce child sexual abuse material for about three years beginning in 2020. Benton engaged in sexual conversations in live video calls with approximately 1,000 girls ranging in age from 7 to 17 years old. In some of those calls, he enticed the girls to engage in sexually explicit conduct. He screen-recorded and saved approximately 72 videos without the minor victims’ knowledge. One of the videos shows Benton texting a 10-year-old minor to deceive her into believing that he was 15 years old. When she revealed her age, Benton promised their conversation was “just between us.”
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement.
HSI investigated the case.
Trial Attorney McKenzie Hightower of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section prosecuted the case.
Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to 192 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervise release and assessed $100.00.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
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