Virginia Man Sentenced to Seven-Year Prison Term and Fined $262,500 For Arranging for Sexual Contact with a Minor And Possession of Child Pornography

            WASHINGTON - Paul David Hite, 58, an anesthesiologist from Midlothian, Va., was sentenced today to seven years in prison and fined $262,500 for arranging for sexual contact with a minor and possession of child pornography.

            The sentencing was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr.; Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Hite pled guilty on April 15, 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. The judge also ordered Hite to pay $16,750 in restitution to five victims of child pornography. Upon completion of his prison term, Hite will be placed on 10 years of supervised release.

            According to a factual proffer of evidence presented during the court proceeding, from Feb. 1, 2012 through Feb. 17, 2012, Hite engaged in a series of Internet chats and telephone calls with an undercover police detective in Washington, D.C., who was posing as an adult who was sexually abusing a minor girl and a minor boy.  During the course of the communications with the undercover detective, Hite described, in graphic detail, the sexual activity in which he wanted to engage with the purported minors. Hite also discussed plans to travel to Washington, D.C. for the purpose of sexually abusing the purported minors.

            Hite was arrested near his residence on Feb. 17, 2012. Law enforcement recovered computer equipment from Hite’s home, which uncovered evidence of over 400 files 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 and MPD. 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, Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen, Assistant Attorney General Caldwell, Assistant Director in Charge McCabe and Chief Lanier commended the work of all who participated in the investigation. They especially acknowledged the efforts of the MPD Detectives and Special Agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as the FBI’s Richmond Field Division.

            They also acknowledged the efforts of Digital Investigative Analyst Christie Gardner of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and Criminal Investigator John Marsh of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. They additionally commended the efforts of those who assisted with the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including former Paralegal Specialist Starla Stolk; Legal Assistants Jessica Moffatt and Charmonique Price; Yvonne Bryant, Dawn Tolson-Hightower and David Foster of the Victim Witness Assistant Unit; and Joshua Ellen, Kimberly Smith, and Leif Hickling of the Litigation Services Unit. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Wu and Brian Hood from the Eastern District of Virginia, Diane Lucas of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Chief Elizabeth Trosman, Elizabeth Danello, and Patricia Heffernan of the Appellate Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, David B. Kent, Julieanne Himelstein, and Andrea L. Hertzfeld of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Deputy Chief Alexandra R. Gelber and former Trial Attorney Darcy Katzin of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.