Security Guard Pleads Guilty to Producing Child Pornography
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 20, 2010 |
ALEXANDRIA, VA—Steven John Thorpe, 60, of Manassas, Virginia, pled guilty today to one count of production of child pornography.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and John G. Perren, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Gerald B. Lee.
Thorpe was charged via a criminal information with one count of production of child pornography. Sentencing has been set for Jan. 7, 2011. Thorpe faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and a $250,000 monetary fine. Thorpe also faces lifetime supervised release when released from incarceration.
According to court documents, Thorpe was sharing child pornography images and videos with an undercover FBI agent in February, March and April of 2010. On August 26, 2010, FBI agents executed a Search Warrant at Thorpe’s residence, where they seized several computer hard drives and a Mini DV Recorder. Forensic analysis of Thorpe’s hard drives revealed more than 3800 child pornography images and more than 280 child pornography videos contained on those computers. Two of those videos, and eight of those images, were recorded by Thorpe, using his Mini DV Recorder.
The forensic review of Thorpe’s computers also revealed multiple videos, recorded by Thorpe on his Mini DV Recorder, depicting clothed minors being filmed surreptitiously, often from the inside of a vehicle. Many of those videos depict children playing in a residential community where Thorpe was employed as a security guard.
This case was investigated by the FBI Innocent Images Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Zeeman prosecuted this 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://pacer.login.uscourts.gov.