Newport News Man Sentenced for Receipt of Child Pornography

NEWPORT NEWS, VA—Marvin Villacorta, 31, of Newport News, Virginia, was sentenced today to 100 months’ imprisonment for receipt of child pornography. Villacorta was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release following his incarceration.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and James D. Fox, Chief of Newport News Police, made the announcement after Villacorta was sentenced by United States District Judge Mark Davis.

Villacorta was indicted on February 18, 2010, by a federal grand jury for two counts of receipt of child pornography and three counts of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography on April 6, 2010.

According to court documents, Villacorta was identified by the Newport News Police Department (NNPD) when his computers were brought into a local computer store for repair. Technicians at the shop saw what they believed to be child pornography on the computers and immediately reported the finding to the NNPD. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the NNPD proceeded to investigate Villacorta, which resulted in the federal Indictment of Villacorta.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the FBI and Newport News Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Yusi is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.