Hopewell Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charge

RICHMOND, VA—Walter Guilbeault, age 60, of Hopewell, Va., was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge James R. Spencer to 60 months’ incarceration for one count of  Receipt of Child Pornography.  Guilbeault pled guilty to the charge on March 5, 2009. Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced the sentence.

According to court documents and information provided in open court in August 2007, Walter Guilbeault hosted a live meeting over the Internet in the course of his employment with a software company.  At the conclusion of this “web meeting,” Guilbeault neglected to disconnect his computer from the host network, enabling attendees to the meeting to continue to view, from their own computer desktops, information originating from Guilbeault’s computer desktop.  A meeting participant observed several images of nude young girls in lewd poses as well as a list of file names suggestive of pornography, along with the words “Walter Guilbeault’s Desktop,” all displayed in the browser window where the web meeting had previously been conducted.  Pursuant to this information, Guilbeault was terminated from his employment.  Subsequent forensic analysis of his work computers revealed hundreds of still images and over a dozen videos of child pornography, some of which was acquired using peer-to-peer file sharing software.

In December 2008, search warrants were executed at Guilbeault’s residence and at his former business, Martial Arts World of Hopewell.  Computers and thumb drives seized from these locations were forensically analyzed and disclosed hundreds of still images and over 50 videos of child pornography.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth C. Wu 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.