Fredericksburg Man Sentenced 250 Months for Producing Child Pornography

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – William Hurlbut, 29, of Fredericksburg, Va., was sentenced today to 250 months in prison, followed by 25 years of supervised release, for producing child pornography. 

            Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and John P. Torres, Special Agent in Charge for ICE’s, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge T. S. Ellis III. 

            “Mr. Hurlbut is a child predator who befriended the victim’s family and groomed the young child for years leading up to the assault,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “Few crimes are as heinous as sexually assaulting an eight-year-old boy, and we are committed to putting these predators behind bars to protect our kids.” 

“Society carries great admiration and respect for individuals who maintain a position of public trust,” said SAC Torres. “As such, ICE HSI will use every available resource to continue its pursuit of individuals like Mr. Hurlbut who betray that admiration and respect through predatory behavior on innocent children.” 

            Hurlbut is a former police officer for Aquia Harbour and former member of the Chancellor Volunteer Fire and Rescue squad. He pled guilty to producing child pornography on June 30, 2011. In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Hurlbut admitted performing sexual acts with a sleeping or unconscious eight-year-old boy and filming those acts with his iPhone in 2009.  Hurlbut has known the victim since the victim was six months old. A search of Hurbut’s residence recovered more than 1,000 images and more than 1,000 videos of child pornography.

            This case was investigated by the ICE HSI, the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office, and the Northern Virginia/District of Columbia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney John Eisinger is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 United States 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 individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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.justice.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://pcl.uscourts.gov.