Man Sentenced for Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material of Approximately 72 Victims

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Manassas man was sentenced today to 16 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of children and receipt of child sexual abuse material.

According to court documents, Anthony Benton, 21, initially came to the attention of law enforcement when he bought child sexual abuse material, including videos depicting the sexual abuse of children who appear to be as young as 5 years old, over Telegram. A residential search warrant was executed at his home and law enforcement discovered that Benton had used Omegle, a live video application, to consistently produce child pornography since 2020.

Benton engaged in sexual live video calls with approximately 1,000 girls ranging in age from 7 to 17 years old. He screen-recorded and saved approximately 72 of those videos without the minor victims knowing. Within these videos, Benton can be seen texting a 10-year-old minor, deceiving her by saying he was 15 years old and then, when she revealed her age, promising their sexual conversation was, “[J]ust between us.” 

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Derek W. Gordon, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney McKenzie Hightower and Trial Attorney for the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.justice.gov/psc.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:23-cr-87.