Chesterfield Man Pleads Guilty to Production of Child Pornography

RICHMOND, VA—Christopher Ian Wright, 29, of Chesterfield, Virginia, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to one count of production of child pornography. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Michael Morehart, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr.

Wright was indicted on September 6, 2011, by a federal grand jury. Sentencing has been scheduled for April 12, 2012. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a maximum penalty of 30-years’ imprisonment, and will be required to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school.

According to court documents and information provided in open court at the plea hearing, an undercover FBI agent detected Wright trading child pornography images over a peer-to-peer network. Agents subsequently obtained and executed a search warrant at Wright’s residence, where they seized several computers and computer media. A forensic examination revealed that Wright had chatted with and distributed child pornography to minor boys over a webcam and had recorded the sessions as the minors engaged in sexual acts on camera. Thousands of additional movies and images of child pornography, including sadomasochistic conduct and bestiality, were also recovered from his computer. Analysts recovered further evidence from Wright’s digital camera that shows close-up images of what appear to be a minor boy’s buttocks.

This case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Gene Fishel, a Special Assistant United States Attorney and Senior Assistant Attorney General with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, 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 http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.