District Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Distributing Child Pornography
Collection was Among Largest Ever Found in the District of Columbia, Included More Than 20,000 Photos and 500 Videos
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 22, 2011 |
WASHINGTON—Gustavo Chinchilla, 39, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.; James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Chinchilla admitted to distributing at least 10 images of child pornography and possessing over 20,000 photographs and over 500 videos containing child pornography. This represents one of the largest collections of child pornography ever found in the District of Columbia.
Chinchilla, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty to the child pornography charge in March 2011 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before the Honorable Beryl A. Howell. In addition to the prison term, the judge today ordered him to register as a sex offender for 25 years and to forfeit the computers and electronic equipment that he used to distribute and possess the child pornography. At the end of his prison term, Chinchilla is likely to be deported, as he is not an American citizen.
The defendant was subject to enhanced penalties because some of the images of child pornography involved prepubescent minors or minors who had not attained the age of 12 years, and some images and videos portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.
According to the government’s evidence, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline received complaint reports regarding child pornography being posted on the Internet from Ning, Inc., an Internet services company that allows registered users to create and customize their own websites which are hosted on Ning servers. Once a photograph is posted on a Ning website, it can be viewed and/or copied by other users around the world.
The government investigation revealed that many of these complaints related to images posted by Chinchilla. Further investigation revealed that Chinchilla was uploading images from his residence in Northeast Washington. A search warrant was executed at Chinchilla’s apartment, which revealed several computers that contained child pornography, and hundreds of CDs and DVDs containing child pornography. The search also uncovered handwritten notes listing websites that cater to individuals interested in child pornography.
Subsequent to the search of his residence, law enforcement arrested Chinchilla. He admitted that he knowingly sought images depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct approximately once or twice a week from various Ning websites and that he downloaded those images. Chinchilla also admitted uploading child pornography to Ning websites on at least two occasions.
“Modern technology has allowed collectors of child pornography to amass and distribute a vast collection of disturbing images of children from their home computers,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “We will continue to fight for justice on behalf of these exploited children, who have suffered immensely at the hands of child pornographers.“
“The FBI is dedicated to protecting our most precious resources, our children,” said Assistant Director McJunkin. “Individuals who engage in the wholesale distribution of child pornography will be brought to justice; not only to stop them from inflicting further abuses, but to give their victims and their families a sense of safety and closure.”
“The MPD continues to work with our law enforcement partners, striving to end the selfish, disruptive and callous acts committed by criminals who engage and prey on the innocent lives of children, exposing them with images of child pornography,” said Chief Lanier. “Criminals cannot hide behind closed doors and new technology. We are dedicated to finding these individuals, stopping and capturing them, thus ensuring that the distribution of child pornography does not flourish and cause further harm.”
This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI/MPD Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD.
Project Safe Childhood is 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 U.S. 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, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
In announcing the sentence U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director McJunkin, and Chief Lanier commended the outstanding investigative work of the MPD and FBI personnel who worked on the case, and the FBI/MPD Child Exploitation Task Force. They also praised the work of Assistant United States Attorney Catherine K. Connelly, who is prosecuting the case.