ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Fairfax man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for downloading images and videos depicting children as young as four years old being sexually abused, and for utilizing the Darknet to solicit and promote child pornography.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Christopher Robert Sueiro, 40, used a peer-to-peer network to download child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Sueiro was also a member of a Darknet hidden service website dedicated to trafficking in CSAM depicting preteen boys, where he made posts promoting and soliciting CSAM images and videos and attempted to receive CSAM from other users of the website. Sueiro’s electronic devices included documents describing graphic sexual abuse of children and a guide to how to find child pornography online. He downloaded CSAM repeatedly over the course of at least four years, amassing thousands of images and videos.
Sueiro’s child pornography offenses first came to the attention of law enforcement when investigators searched Sueiro’s digital devices during an unrelated online threats investigation.
“For years, this defendant used the internet, including the dark web, to solicit, obtain, and promote images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children,” said Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The trafficking of child pornography is egregious and repugnant behavior, and as today’s sentence demonstrates, will be met with serious consequences in EDVA. We are grateful to everyone who worked tirelessly on this case to secure a measure of justice on behalf of society’s most vulnerable victims.”
“The Department of Justice is committed to tracking down people like Christopher Sueiro who traffic in haunting images and videos of children during their worst moments and who perpetuate the grievous harm to the victims,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “I commend the excellent work done by the investigators and prosecutors in this case. Today’s sentence is a step in achieving some justice for the victims and sends a message to other offenders that we will continue to find and prosecute people who victimize vulnerable children.”
“Each time someone downloads child pornography, the child is victimized all over again,” said Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Washington, D.C. “Predators cannot hide behind the cloak of the internet; our special agents and law enforcement partners work tirelessly to identify them and ensure they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Kenneth A. Polite Jr., Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C.; and Erin Schaible, Chief Colonel of the City of Fairfax Police Department made the announcement.
HSI and the City of Fairfax Police Department investigated the case, with significant assistance from the High Technology Investigative Unit (HTIU) of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Smith III and CEOS Trial Attorney James E. Burke IV prosecuted 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.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. 1:17-cr-284.
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