Former science director for the Office of Naval Research Global sentenced to 25 years in prison for child sexual exploitation conviction

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A cleared research scientist at U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Assistant Professor at George Mason University was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for receiving, possessing, and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and coercion and enticement of minors.

According to court documents, in November 2021, Daniel Marc Lofaro, 40, of Fairfax, engaged with a victim, identified as Minor 1, who was then 12 years old, on a social media app, telling the victim he was 22 years old. Lofaro told the victim in graphic detail how he would have sex with the victim and continued to entice and exploit the child even when the victim hardly responded. Lofaro requested nude images of the victim and asked the victim to join him in video chats.

In 2019, Lofaro engaged with a 14-year-old victim, identified as Minor 2, through an online dating app. Lofaro chatted with the victim on various social media and messaging apps and had voice and video calls with the victim. On multiple occasions, Lofaro asked the victim to send him sexually explicit pictures and videos. At Lofaro’s request, in February 2022, the victim created a sexually explicit video and sent it to Lofaro. Minor 2 told law enforcement that Lofaro asked for the victim’s address so he could visit the victim, and that the victim stopped talking to the defendant because he was asking the victim to send him photographs every day, even when the child was at school. Lofaro last reached out to Minor 2 on May 18, 2022, the morning law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence.

Lofaro collected CSAM for nearly a decade, amassing approximately 600 CSAM images and videos on two laptop computers. These files include images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, including the rape of a toddler and prepubescent children.

Between at least August 2021 and February 2022, Lofaro distributed and received numerous CSAM files through social media. Lofaro was a member of multiple social media groups dedicated to discussing sexual abuse of children and exchanging CSAM. Lofaro frequently discussed with other users his sexual interest in children and the sexual abuse of children in real life. On Feb. 5, 2022, Lofaro chatted with another individual about his sexual abuse of a minor relative while the child slept, and that he was “looking for someone who has a daughter that they are willing to share.”

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; David J. Scott, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office's Criminal and Cyber Division; and Brian Platt, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Washington D.C. Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Halper and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney McKenzie Hightower, a Trial Attorney for the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, prosecuted 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. Attorney’s Offices and the 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.justice.gov/psc.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:23-cr-156.