Jury Convicts Man of Producing Child Pornography

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Hamilton man today on charges of producing child pornography.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, in November 2017, Logan Roy McCauley, 25, drove from his residence in Hamilton to West Virginia and picked up a minor he recently had met online. He then drove the minor back to his residence in Hamilton, and, within hours of arriving, engaged in sexual intercourse with the minor for purposes of using a smart phone to record a portion of the sexual encounter. Soon after creating the video, McCauley sent an online message to another person admitting he had made the video that morning. The day after McCauley created the video, law enforcement arrived at McCauley’s residence. At this time, McCauley told law enforcement about the video, which was still on McCauley’s smart phone.

McCauley faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison when sentenced on April 26. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This matter was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which is composed of FBI agents, along with detectives from the Fairfax County Police, Arlington County Police, Prince William County Police, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Leesburg Police, Alexandria City Police, Washington Metropolitan Police, Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office, George Mason University Police, United States Marshal’s Service, and agents of various Office of Inspector Generals

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the 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.justice.gov/psc.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Brian A. Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Matthew J. DeSarno, Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Division, FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III accepted the verdict. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander P. Berrang, Jay V. Prabhu, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendelynn E. Bills are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-330.