Preschool Teacher Sentenced To 168 Months For Production Of Child Pornography

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – James Douglas Manring, 54, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, was sentenced today to 168 months in prison, followed by a 3 year term of supervised release, for production of child pornography.  Prior to his arrest on Nov. 13, 2012, Manring taught preschool in Bethesda, Maryland.

            Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and Gary Barksdale, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after United States District Court Judge Claude M. Hilton imposed sentencing. 

Manring pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography on Jan. 28, 2013.
According to court documents, Manring filmed himself performing sexual acts on several students who were approximately five years of age while teaching at a preschool in Japan from 1996 to 1999.  In 1999, Manring returned to the United States and brought DVDs containing the child pornography he produced with him.

            Further, between April 2010 and February 2011, Manring also purchased approximately 46 videos for about $2,000.  These videos depict the graphic and simulated lascivious exhibition of the genitals and pubic areas of minor boys and were mailed from New York to Manring’s residence in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

This case was investigated by the US Postal Inspection Service, Child Exploitation Investigations’ Washington Division.  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 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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.