Buchanan Man to Serve 24 Years on Child Exploitation Charges

ROANOKE, Va. – A Buchanan, Virginia man, who exposed the genitals of a minor female during a party at his residence and took pictures of the victim on his cell phone, was sentenced today to 24 years in federal prison.

Christopher Buono, 45, pled guilty in January 2025 to one count of child sexual exploitation and one count of possession of child pornography.

“Individuals who take advantage of children, be it online or in person, must be held accountable for their actions,” United States Attorney C. Todd Gilbert said today. “This sentence sends a clear message that anyone targeting children in the Western District of Virginia will be held accountable to the fullest extent possible.”

According to court documents, in January 2024, a party was hosted at the defendant’s home in Buchanan, Virginia. At one point in the evening, Buono took a minor female, who was approximately six years old at the time, to Buono’s game room, and either the minor victim or Buono pulled down her pants and underwear, exposing her genitals.

Buono then used his cellphone to take sexually explicit photographs of the minor victim. Later that night, Buono used a messaging application to send one of these photos to another individual with a sexual interest in minors.

The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security with assistance from the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Scheff prosecuted the case for the United States

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identity and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.