Lanexa Area Man Sentenced on Attempted Coercion and Enticement of a Minor Charge

RICHMOND , VA—David J. Bishop, age 51, of Lanexa, Virginia, was sentenced today to 228 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Bishop was found guilty of Attempted Coercion and Enticement of a Minor on December 1, 2008. Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge James R. Spencer.

According to court documents, Bishop engaged in several sexually explicit conversations over the telephone with an adult female in Kansas posing as a 6 year-old girl. The individual, who had originally engaged in sexually explicit chats with Bishop online, recorded the conversations while working under the supervision of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A subsequent forensic examination of Bishop’s computer seized during a search warrant execution at his residence also revealed hundreds of saved images of child pornography. During the sentencing hearing, the United States produced evidence that the defendant had sexually abused two young children, who were relatives of the defendant, over 30 years ago.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Special Assistant United States Attorney Samuel E. Fishel of the Virginia Attorney General’s Office; and Assistant United States Attorney Brian R. Hood prosecuted 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.