Previously Convicted Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Producing Child Pornography

            WASHINGTON – Victor Armando Simms, 54, a previously convicted sex offender who most recently lived in Southeast Washington D.C., pleaded guilty today to sexually abusing multiple young girls, recording many of the incidents, and amassing a library of 3,300 still images and over 250 videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. The plea agreement was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Chief David J. Scott of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Simms, aka “Stacey Patrick Simms,” pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan in Washington D.C. to First Degree Child Sexual Abuse with Aggravating Circumstances, two counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse with Children, three counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children, and Possession of Child Pornography.

            Judge Chutkan scheduled sentencing for October 22, 2024. Simms faces a sentencing range of 37 years up to lifetime in prison on the seven counts to which he plead guilty. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            According to court documents, law enforcement was called on January 15, 2023, when a young girl discovered explicit images of child sexual abuse on an iPad belonging to Simms. The same day, Simms was formally placed under arrest and charged by complaint with one count of first-degree child sexual abuse in D.C. Superior Court.

            On January 17, 2023, the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force executed a search warrant at Simms’s residence and seized multiple electronic devices including an iPad and a one-terabyte external hard drive. In addition, law enforcement agents seized numerous pills and pill bottles, which were believed to be used to sedate the young victims. Many of the videos produced by Simms showed the young victims asleep during the sexual assaults.

            The forensic examination of the external hard drive revealed 3300 still images and 250 videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, many of which included metadata indicating the date, time, and location where the file was initially produced. The metadata indicated that the minor female victims were sexually exploited and abused by Simms in Washington D.C., and at hotels in Maryland and Virginia.

            According to court documents, Simms is a previously adjudicated sex offender. He was convicted in North Carolina in 2005 of indecent liberties with a six-year-old child and a felony child sex act.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents and detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking. 

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jocelyn Bond, Sarah Folse, and Caroline Burrell.