HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA -- A former professor at James Madison University, who previously pleaded guilty to a charge related to the distribution of child pornography, was sentenced this morning in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg.

James Lesner Query Jr., 55, of Harrisonburg, previously pled guilty to one count of distributing child pornography. This morning in U.S. District Court, he was sentenced to 135 months of incarceration to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Query will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

Query previously admitted that he accessed an internet chatroom on December 23, 2009 using the screen name “dad2" and engaged in an online conversation with another user. During this chat, the defendant distributed three images of child pornography to the other user through the website’s chat function. The defendant provided these images in exchange for other images of child pornography.

On April 22, 2010, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home and seized multiple computers and other electronic media. An analysis of these items found that the defendant possessed 600 or more images and videos depicting child pornography. Included in Query’s collection were images of an adult sexually penetrating a pre-pubescent child.

This case was investigated by ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, RAC Harrisonburg office in conjunction with the Harrisonburg Police Department and the James Madison University Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jeb Terrien is prosecuting the case for the United States.

 

 

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