Buena Vista Man Sentenced on Federal Child Pornography Charge

Lynchburg, VIRGINIA – A 32-year-old Buena Vista man, who was studying to become a youth pastor, was sentenced yesterday to 78 months in federal prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to possession of child pornography and attempting to send obscene material to a child under 16 years of age, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced.

Christopher Collins, 32, pleaded guilty on May 16, 2018, to offenses relating to his communications with an undercover officer posing as a 13-year old girl and the recovery from Collins’ digital devices of child pornography images. In addition to 78 months of incarceration, Collins was also sentenced yesterday to five years of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

“The Department of Justice is committed to working with our federal, state, and local law-enforcement partners to prosecute individuals who exploit children through, among other reprehensible acts, child pornography,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated today. “Each and every time these types of images are shared online, children are victimized.  Accordingly, these cases are among the most important that we do as federal prosecutors, and we will make every effort to vindicate the interests of these vulnerable victims and protect them from further harm.” 

In November 2016, the defendant, who used the screen name “NavyGuy4Yng” contacted an undercover officer.  He sent pictures of his penis and a masturbation video to the officer and told the officer that his screen name on another website was “PastorGreg.”  In February 2017, investigators with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the Virginia Attorney General, executed a federal search warrant at Collins’ Rockbridge County residence. During the on-scene investigation, officials seized digital devices and interviewed Collins. During the interview, Collins made various admissions, including the fact that he liked to roleplay online, that he communicated with girls who claimed they were between the ages of 13 and 15 years old, and that he transmitted videos and photographs of himself nude. In addition, investigators found child pornography images on digital devices seized from Collins’ residence.

The investigation of the case was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the Virginia Attorney General.  Assistant United States Attorney Nancy S. Healey prosecuted the case for 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 exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.