Former Virginia Beach Teacher Sentenced on Child Pornography Charges

NORFOLK, VA—Michael James Jablonski, age 37, of Virginia Beach, was sentenced today in Norfolk federal court to 10 years in prison on child pornography charges, followed by a lifetime period of supervised release. Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Alex J. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Jerome B. Friedman. Jablonski previously pled guilty on November 7, 2008, to one count of receipt of child pornography.

According to public court documents and information provided in open court at sentencing, on April 4, 2008, the Virginia Beach Police Department received a complaint from a concerned citizen that Jablonski possessed child pornography on his home computer. Mr. Jablonski was a teacher at a local high school and a coach for a traveling girls’ volleyball team. A Virginia Beach Police Officer responded to this complaint, ascertained that Jablonski possessed child pornography and seized the suspect computer. On April 6, 2008, the Virginia Beach Police Department executed a search warrant for Jablonski’s residence. Prior to the search, Jablonski voluntarily submitted to an interview during which he admitted to using a file-sharing system to download child pornography from the Internet and to saving child pornography images on his computer and on to CDs. A forensic analysis of Jablonski’s computer and CDs seized from his home revealed that he possessed over 22,000 images of child pornography.

This case was investigated by the Virginia Beach Police Department and the FBI. Assistant United States Attorneys Laura P. Tayman and Melissa E. O’Boyle 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.usdoj.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.