Virginia Man Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison and Fined $500,000 for Attempting to Entice Minor to Engage in Illicit Sexual Activity

WASHINGTON—Paul David Hite, 58, an anesthesiologist from Midlothian, Virginia, was sentenced today to 22 years in prison and fined $500,000 on two federal charges of attempting to entice a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr. and Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Joining in the announcement were Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Hite was found guilty by a jury in February 2013 following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Upon completion of his prison term, Hite will be placed on 10 years of supervised release.

Evidence presented at trial established that from February 1, 2012 through February 17, 2012, Hite engaged in a series of Internet chats and telephone calls with an undercover police detective in Washington, D.C., who was posing as an adult who was sexually abusing a minor girl and a minor boy. During the course of the communications with the undercover detective, Hite described, in graphic detail, the sexual activity in which he wanted to engage with the purported minors. Hite also discussed plans to travel to Washington, D.C., for the purpose of sexually abusing the purported minors.

Hite was arrested near his residence in Midlothian on February 17, 2012. Law enforcement recovered computer equipment from Hite’s home, which uncovered evidence of child pornography.

This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

“This wealthy doctor trolled the Internet for child pornography and described in shocking detail the sex acts he wanted to perform on a 12-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “We can only be thankful that he was identified and stopped by law enforcement before he had the opportunity to carry out his disturbing plans to drug and rape children. This sentence of more than 20 years behind bars should deter other criminals who are tempted to sexually abuse children.”

“Online predators who attempt to entice minors take advantage of our most precious resource, our children,” said Assistant Director in Charge Parlave. “The FBI is committed to apprehending dangerous offenders who sexually exploit children, and we will continue to work together with our partners to identify these predators and their victims.”

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman, Assistant Director in Charge Parlave, and Chief Lanier commended the work of all who participated in the investigation. They especially acknowledged the efforts of the MPD detectives and special agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as the FBI’s Richmond Field Division.

They also acknowledged the efforts of Digital Investigative Analyst Christie Gardner of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Criminal Investigator John Marsh of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. They additionally commended the efforts of those who assisted with the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Starla Stolk; Legal Assistants Jessica Moffatt and Charmonique Price; Dawn Tolson-Hightower and David Foster of the Victim Witness Assistant Unit; and Joshua Ellen, Kimberly Smith, and Leif Hickling of the Litigation Services Unit.

Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Wu from the Eastern District of Virginia, Diane Lucas of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, David B. Kent and Julieanne Himelstein of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorney Darcy Katzin of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.