Virginia Man Sentenced to 28 Months in Prison For Traveling Into the District of Columbia To Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct With a Minor

            WASHINGTON – Wesley Breeden, 30, of Springfield, Va., was sentenced today to 28 months in prison for traveling interstate to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Breeden pled guilty to the charge in February 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  He was sentenced by the Honorable Tanya S. Chutkan. Upon completion of his prison term, Breeden will be placed on 10 years of supervised release. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for 25 years.

            According to the government's evidence, on July 30, 2015, Breeden contacted an undercover officer with the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, through a social network site. Over the next several days, Breeden engaged in e-mail and text-messaging conversations with the undercover officer. During the course of these conversations, Breeden arranged with the undercover officer to meet for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with a female who was a minor. On Aug. 4, 2015, Breeden traveled from Virginia to a pre-arranged meeting place in Washington, D.C.  When he arrived, he was arrested. He has been in custody ever since.

            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.projectsafechildhood.gov

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips, Assistant Director in Charge Abbate, and Chief Lanier commended the work of the MPD Detectives and Special Agents of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea L. Hertzfeld, who prosecuted the case.