Chesterfield Man Sentenced for Transportation of Child Pornography

RICHMOND, VA—Wade Robert Ellis, age 37, of Chesterfield County, Virginia, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Robert E. Payne to 235 months’ incarceration for one count of Transportation of Child Pornography. Ellis pled guilty to the charge on September 29, 2010. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced the sentence.

According to court documents, law-enforcement officers identified Ellis making child pornography images available for download using peer-to-peer file sharing software. During their investigation, agents executed a search warrant at Ellis’s residence, where they recovered several computers, at least 18 computer hard drives, hundreds of computer disks and other electronic storage media. A subsequent forensic examination of two of the computer hard drives revealed over 475 image files of child pornography. Ellis later admitted to agents that he had used various file-sharing programs to view and obtain child pornography over the Internet.

Ellis also admitted in a subsequent interview with law-enforcement officers that he had engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a minor female relative while she was in his care and custody on multiple occasions in 2007 and 2009.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Richmond Police Department. 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.justice.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.