Former William & Mary Professor Sentenced for Producing Child Pornography

NEWPORT NEWS, VA—Justin Bradley May, 34, of Williamsburg, Va., was sentenced today to 180 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for production of child pornography. Upon his release he will be required to register as a sex offender.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Raymond A. Jackson. May pled guilty on Oct. 18, 2010.

“Today's tough sentence ensures that a dangerous predator like Justin May spends many years behind bars, where he can't prey on young victims,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “It is shocking that a college professor manipulated a young girl for his own sexual gratification. This case is a wake-up call to parents and kids alike that the face of evil is often the ordinary and the familiar, including people in positions of trust.”

According to court documents, in April 2010 a juvenile located in Ohio posted a picture of herself on a modeling Internet website. Shortly after posting her picture she was contacted by “Justin Marx,” who claimed to have inside knowledge of the modeling industry. “Marx” sent the juvenile an e-mail inviting her to contact him if she wished to talk more about modeling and asked her age. The juvenile, 13, was then referred to one of his models, “Nikki.” The next day the juvenile contacted “Nikki,” who asked the juvenile if she would be comfortable modeling in a nude photo shoot and suggested she take some nude pictures of herself. “Nikki” then told the juvenile that a professional photographer could take pictures of her in exchange for various sex acts. The juvenile took nude photos of herself and sent them to “Nikki.”

May was initially identified after an FBI administrative subpoena tracked the subscriber information for both “Marx” and “Nikki” back to IP addresses owned by Cox Communications and the College of William & Mary. Additional subpoenas for the dates of e-mail exchanges between the juvenile, “Marx,” and “Nikki” revealed the IP addresses belonged to Justin May at a location in Williamsburg, Va. Specifically, the College of William & Mary requires users of their network to register the MAC addresses of their computers. According to the registration database at the College of William & Mary, the MAC address was in use by Justin May during the time of the chats with the juvenile. May was a faculty member in the Department of Economics with an office located in Williamsburg. Records also show that May had a home at a location in Williamsburg.

This case was investigated by the FBI Innocent Images Task Force and the Department of Homeland Security and Customs Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorneys Elizabeth Yusi and Lisa R. McKeel prosecuted this 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 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.