Former Virginia Federal Employee Sentenced to More Than 17 Years in Prison for Producing Child Pornography

A Woodbridge, Virginia man was sentenced today to 210 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for producing child pornography.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Chief Michael L. Brown of the Alexandria Police Department made the announcement. 

David Edward De Vere, 53, a former Equal Employment Specialist at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, pleaded guilty on Sept. 27, 2018 before U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady of the Eastern District of Virginia to production of child pornography. 

According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, De Vere met and began exchanging sexually explicit messages online with a 16-year-old minor living in Colorado in March 2017.  During the course of these communications, De Vere induced the minor to take and send him multiple images of the minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  De Vere also encouraged another adult with access to the minor in Colorado to sexually abuse the minor, and then traveled to Colorado in April 2017 in an unsuccessful attempt to sexually abuse the minor himself.

The case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which is comprised of agents of the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and detectives from the Prince William County Police, Fairfax County Police, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Metropolitan Police, Alexandria City Police, Arlington County Police, Leesburg Police, Virginia State Police and the Offices of Inspector General of several federal agencies.  Trial Attorney William G. Clayman of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen S. Dwyer are prosecuting the case. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.justice.gov/psc.