RICHMOND, Va. – A New Zealand man was sentenced today to 21 years in prison for production of child pornography.
According to court documents, between February and March 2018, Troy George Skinner, 28, interacted with a minor child online and used the child to produce numerous videos and image files of child pornography.
According to the Statement of Facts filed with the plea agreement, on June 20, 2018, Skinner departed from Auckland, New Zealand, en route to Virginia. On June 22, 2018, Skinner traveled to the victim’s home in Goochland, the location of which he learned in his online conversations with the minor victim. Upon arriving at the victim’s home in Goochland, the defendant approached the house and attempted to speak to family members inside. Skinner threw a paving stone through the glass window of the kitchen door to the house and attempted to enter. After several verbal warnings, the victim’s mother fired a handgun to prevent Skinner from entering the home, striking him once in the neck. Skinner fled from the house but collapsed in a neighbor’s yard, where he was apprehended by members of the Goochland County Sheriff’s Office.
According to additional court filings submitted by the government, a search at the scene of Skinner’s belongings revealed duct tape, pepper spray, and a folding pocketknife. Officials also seized two mobile phones from Skinner, which investigators later determined contained images of child pornography depicting the minor victim. U.S. authorities also made a mutual legal assistance request to officials with the government of New Zealand. New Zealand investigators executed a search warrant on the defendant’s apartment in New Zealand and conducted a forensic examination of the defendant’s laptop, and later provided to U.S. investigators a thumb drive containing 120 video and 56 image files depicting the minor victim.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck.
The Goochland County Sherriff’s office provided significant assistance in this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian R. Hood and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Lee Martin prosecuted the case.
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. 3:19-cr-19.