Virginia Man Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Producing and Distributing Child Pornography

A Manassas Park, Virginia man was sentenced today to 35 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for producing and distributing child pornography,  Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia, and Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBI’s Washington Field Office announced.

Michael Gerald Moody, 44, a delivery driver for a frozen foods company, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady of the Eastern District of Virginia.

“Michael Moody sexually abused a child and used mobile devices and encrypted messaging applications to create and distribute images of that abuse over the internet,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski.  “Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the prosecutors, agents, and local law enforcement who worked on this case, Moody will spend many years in prison and his victim has received some measure of justice for the trauma Moody so callously inflicted.”

“The facts underlying this case show that Moody is a predator who poses a singular danger to children,” said U.S. Attorney Terwilliger.  “I applaud the swift and dedicated work of the FBI and the Manassas Park Police Department, which was essential to ensuring that Moody will stay far away from any minors for a long time.  With the assistance of our state and local partners, our office will continue to zealously prosecute anyone who commits these horrible crimes against children in the Eastern District of Virginia.”

“Sexual predators are turning to different social media platforms and the internet to exploit innocent children,” said Assistant Director in Charge McNamara. “Today's sentencing should serve as a warning to those who try to hide their illegal activities behind technology. Criminals who think they are acting anonymously to advertise, distribute, possess and trade child pornography will be found and held accountable. Our children must be protected from these predators.”

According to court documents, between 2017 and February 2018, Moody used a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct and he captured numerous images of that conduct with his cellular phone.  In addition, Moody engaged in text chats with other individuals through the online messaging application Kik Messenger.  These chats principally focused on the exchange of child pornography and discussions of the sexual abuse of children.  In the course of these chats, Moody distributed child pornography—including images that he himself produced, as well as other images—to at least eight other individuals. 

The case was investigated by the FBI with the assistance of the Manassas Park Police Department.  Trial Attorney Kyle P. Reynolds of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay V. Prabhu of the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted the case.

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. Attorneys’ 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.