Chesterfield Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Child Pornography Case

RICHMOND, Va. – Zebulon Resolve Wendt, 34, of Chesterfield County, a former U.S. Navy sailor and Chesterfield County school bus driver, was sentenced today to 180 months in prison for producing child pornography of a local juvenile whom he had babysat and sexually abused and exploited on numerous occasions. Wendt was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.

Wendt pleaded guilty on Oct. 14, 2015.  According to court documents, Canadian law enforcement detected Wendt after he uploaded several images of a juvenile female engaged in sexually explicit conduct from his Chesterfield residence to an Internet website.  Federal agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), subsequently executed a search warrant at Wendt’s residence where they recovered several computers, external hard drives, and other computer equipment.  A subsequent forensic examination of the seized items revealed thousands of images and videos of a juvenile female engaged in sexually explicit conduct that Wendt himself had taken with a digital camera and saved onto his computer equipment.  Evidence showed that he then distributed these images and videos to other individuals over the Internet. 

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Mark Herring, Attorney General of Virginia; and Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne.  Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stacey E. Rohrs and Samuel E. Fishel prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:15-CR-095.