Virginia Beach Man Convicted Of Conspiracy And Production Of Child Pornography

NORFOLK, Va. – Robert Harold Scott, Jr., 27, of Virginia Beach, Va., was convicted today by a federal jury on 28 counts involving child pornography and destruction of records charges.

Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Special Agent in Charge Clark Settles, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after the verdict was accepted by Senior United States District Judge Robert G. Doumar.

Scott faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment when he is sentenced on November 12, 2014.

A superseding indictment against Scott was returned on March 5, 2014, by a federal grand jury for five counts of conspiracy to produce child pornography; eight counts of production of child pornography; eight counts of receipt of child pornography; five counts of use of an interstate commerce facility to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity; and two counts of destruction of records.

According to court records and evidence at trial, Scott assumed the online identity of “Mike Pyro.”  He would routinely communicate with women in and around the Tidewater area to set up “sex parties,” where the women would work as prostitutes and Scott would pay them for their services.  In reality, Scott would not pay them and sometimes would extort the women by threatening to publish sexually explicit videos.  In May 2013, Scott was convicted in Virginia Beach Circuit Court for felony extortion and larceny based on similar facts.  In addition to the adult parties, Scott was found to be conspiring to and producing child pornography with at least five different women.  Law enforcement found that, when discussing the sex parties, sometimes Scott would request these women to produce child pornography and was very specific as to the sex acts he wanted done on camera.  Five different women complied, in return for the promise of money.  Three of these women already pleaded guilty in Federal court to production of child pornography, and one of these women pleaded guilty in Chesapeake Circuit Court.  In total, law enforcement identified seven minor victims involved in the sexual abuse and production, with the youngest being one year old and the oldest being five years old.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant United States Attorneys Elizabeth M. Yusi and Jay V. Prabhu are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.