Fairfax Man Pleads Guilty To Producing Child Pornography

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Adam Jacob Zottoli, 32, of Fairfax, Va., pleaded guilty today to two counts of production of child pornography.

Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Colonel Edwin C. Roessler, Jr., Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.

According to a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, on March 19, 2013, a thirteen-year-old boy came to the attention of the Fairfax County Police Department based on concerns at school.  The minor told law enforcement that over the past three years he had been sexually assaulted by Zottoli, and that Zottoli had photographed some of the incidents.  Law enforcement then obtained search warrants for Zottoli’s house and computers, and the forensic review of Zottoli’s computers found images and videos of the minor, as well as videos and images of another minor.  After Zottoli was arrested by the Fairfax County Police Department on April 4, 2013, he admitted to producing child pornography.

Zottoli previously was convicted of possession of child pornography on May 1, 2000 in the Eastern District of Virginia and was sentenced to serve 30 months’ imprisonment.  As a result of that prior conviction, Zottoli now will face an increased mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison, and up to a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison, when he is sentenced on January 17, 2014.

This case was investigated by the Fairfax County Police Department.  Special Assistant United States Attorney Alicia J. Yass, a Trial Attorney with the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.