Virginia Man Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

WASHINGTON—Kevin Boteler, 56, of Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced today to two years in prison on a federal charge of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr.; Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Boteler pled guilty to the charge in December 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan. Upon completion of his prison term, Boteler will be placed on 10 years of supervised release.

According to the government’s evidence, on August 16, 2012, Boteler contacted an undercover officer with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, who had entered a social network site. On August 16 and August 17, 2012, Boteler engaged in online e-mail and instant message conversations with the undercover officer, whom Boteler believed was the father of a child. During this period of time, Boteler arranged with the undercover officer to meet for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with the minor. Boteler, however, backed out prior to meeting the undercover officer. During the course of their conversations, Boteler sent the undercover officer seven images of pre- and post-pubescent female children posing nude. In addition, Boteler sent the undercover officer one video 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. Project Safe Childhood is 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 U.S. 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 those who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge Parlave, and Chief Lanier praised the work of the MPD detectives and special agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari Redbord, who prosecuted the case.