SILVER SPRING MAN SENTENCED TO 17 ½ YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR PRODUCTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
Took Photos of Himself Sexually Abusing a Two Year Old

Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Virgil Odis Huskey, age 34, of Silver Spring, Maryland, today to 210 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for production of child pornography in connection with taking pictures of himself sexually abusing a two year old, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Messitte also ordered that Huskey have no unsupervised access to children and no access to any internet-enabled device without the prior permission of and monitoring by the U.S. Probation Office. After his release from prison, Huskey will also be required to register as a sex offender in any state where he lives, works or attends school.

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein stated, "Virgil Huskey took photographs of himself sexually abusing a two year old child on his cell phone camera. Fortunately, a citizen found the phone and contacted the police. This case is an example of the evil that Project Safe Childhood was developed to fight."

According to his plea agreement, on November 24, 2006, a citizen found a camera cell phone that had been left in the men's restroom at a store in Silver Spring, Maryland. Upon opening the "flip" portion of the phone in an attempt to determine its owner, the citizen observed an image on the display screen that appeared to depict an adult engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a child. The citizen contacted the Montgomery County Police Department. Police determined that the phone belonged to Huskey.

On November 29, 2006, Montgomery County police officers interviewed Huskey, who admitted that the phone was his and that he had recently lost it. Huskey identified a female child depicted in several images recovered from the phone to be two years old. He admitted that one to two months prior, he used the phone to take seven photos of himself sexually abusing the two year old.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' 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. Details about Maryland's program are available at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Montgomery County Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy and his office for their work in this investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele W. Sartori, who prosecuted the case.