ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Fairfax man pleaded guilty last week to attempted production of child pornography and possession of child pornography.
According to court documents, Brian Scott McGalem, 24, repeatedly engaged in sexually explicit discussions with at least six minors where he attempted to persuade several of the victims to produce sexually explicit pictures of themselves and send them to him. At least three of the minor victims were under the age of 12 at the time of the offense. During these discussions, which took place on several social media platforms under the monikers “Random Hipster#2429” and “Sircoolbeans,” McGalem attempted to groom and entice the minors to record themselves engaging in sexually explicit activity and he sent some of the minors sexually explicit images of himself. Moreover, McGalem’s electronic devices contained several images and videos of child sexual abuse material.
McGalem is scheduled to be sentenced on August 17. He faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga accepted the plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Keim and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney Kramer are prosecuting the case.
The Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, continues to attempt to identify additional victims. Anyone with information regarding these crimes is encouraged to e-mail the HSI Tip Line: www.ice.gov/tips or by calling: 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.
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. 1:22-cr-48.