Woodbridge Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Jon McClellan, 55, of Woodbridge, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to charges of receipt of child pornography.

According to court documents, McClellan used a peer-to-peer file sharing program to receive and collect child pornography videos and images, including numerous videos of children between 5 and 12 years old being sexually abused. In total, McClellan’s child pornography collection included over 1,500 images and 1,800 videos of children being sexually exploited.

McClellan faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 2, 2015. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee. This case was investigated by HSI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney Dougherty Russell is prosecuting the case.

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 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. 1:15-CR-182.

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