Former Elementary School Assistant Principal Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography

ALEXANDRIA, VA—A former assistant principal at Greenville Elementary School, Joshua Myers, 29, of Warrenton, Va., pled guilty today to receipt of child pornography.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Ronald Hosko, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI, Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Claude M. Hilton.

“This case is a sobering reminder that a sexual predator is often someone familiar, even someone in a high position of trust,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “Child pornography is a horrific crime that memorializes sexual abuse and victimizes children each time their image is used for someone’s sexual gratification. We are committed to doing everything we can to safeguard our young people from the threat of exploitation and abuse.”

“The FBI investigates those who receive and share child pornography and will bring them to justice,” said FBI SAC Hosko. “Through our investigations, the FBI works to protect other potential victims, and the loss of their innocence. We urge parents and others to be our partners, vigilant in protecting our most innocent of citizens, our children.”

Myers faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on Dec. 2, 2011.

According to court documents, Myers was identified through an undercover investigation of individuals using peer-to-peer file-sharing software to view and trade child pornography. Through an online chat with an undercover agent, Myers provided his password to folders on his computer containing child pornography and discussed his sexual interest in minor boys. Using the password provided, the undercover officer obtained through Myer’s shared folder several videos containing child pornography, including a video of a minor boy who appears to have been raped by an adult male and a woman and man sexually abusing a toddler.

Myers was arrested on June 15, 2011, at his home following a search of his residence. According to court documents, Myers admitted to being the specific user on the peer-to-peer network, admitted to trading child pornography with various users, and indicated he had child pornography stored on a thumb drive and on his work-issued laptop at school. Subsequent forensic analysis of the evidence seized revealed that he was distributing and receiving child pornography online.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation Task Force, with assistance from the Warrenton Police Department and the Northern Virginia/District of Columbia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Special Assistant United States Attorney Maureen C. Cain is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 United States 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 via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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.