Baltimore Man Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison For Distribution of Child Pornography And Traveling to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct With a Minor

            WASHINGTON – Randy Koontz, 39, of Baltimore, Md., was sentenced today to 40 years in prison on federal charges of distribution of child pornography and traveling interstate to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Andrew W. Vale, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Chief of the Fairfax County, Va. Police Department, and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Koontz pled guilty to the charges in March 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan. Following completion of his prison term, he will be placed on supervised release for the rest of his life. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

            Prior to his arrest in this case, Koontz was convicted in 2008 of shipment/transportation of child pornography and in 2001 of possession of child pornography. He served prison terms for those offenses and was required to register as a sex offender. He was out of prison and on supervised release for only two years before he committed the crimes in this case.

            According to the government's evidence, beginning on March 8, 2015, Koontz engaged in communications with an undercover officer with the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, through a social network site. During the course of communications over a nearly month-long period, Koontz provided the undercover officer with videos of child pornography. Koontz also expressed interest in engaging in sexual acts with a purported female minor. During this period, Koontz arranged with the undercover officer to meet in the District of Columbia for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with that child. On April 2, 2015, Koontz traveled from Baltimore to a pre-arranged meeting place in Washington, D.C.  When he arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested. He has remained in custody ever since.

            A laptop computer and two cellular phones were taken by law enforcement from Koontz at the time of his arrest. Additionally, law enforcement executed a search warrant of Koontz’s room at a boarding house in Baltimore and seized additional electronic devices. The FBI forensically examined the items seized from the defendant and discovered several thousand images and videos of child pornography.

            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, MPD, and the Fairfax County Police Department.  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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu, Assistant Director Vale, Chief Roessler, and Chief Newsham praised the work of the MPD Detectives, Fairfax County, Va. Police, and Special Agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Criminal Investigator John Marsh, Paralegal Specialists Donhue Troy Griffith and Michelle Wicker, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea L. Hertzfeld, who prosecuted the matter.