Manassas man sentenced to 20 years for producing child pornography

A Manassas man was sentenced Friday for paying women to sexually abuse children in the Philippines via a web camera while he directed and produced numerous images of the abuse, announced U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia G. Zachary Terwilliger. Read more

Aldie man found guilty for possession of child porn

An Aldie man is facing a minimum of 10 years in jail after being found guilty of possessing and reproducing child pornography Read more

Roanoke man arrested on child solicitation charges

ROCKINGHAM CO., Va. (WDBJ7) A Roanoke man and former WSLS-TV journalist is facing child solicitation charges, according to Virginia State Police. Read more

Fairfax County middle school teacher arrested on child pornography charges

A Fairfax County middle school teacher was arrested on child pornography charges, the Arlington County Police Department said.
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City man please guilty to computer solicitation

WINCHESTER — A Winchester man will spend more than a year behind bars for propositioning a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl, but was actually an undercover police investigator.

Wilfredo Berrios Rodriguez, 51, of the 100 block of Hampton Court, pleaded guilty Friday in Frederick County Circuit Court to computer solicitation and attempting to take indecent liberties.

The Spanish-speaking Berrios Rodriguez relied on a court-appointed translator during the hearing, and on two occasions professed his innocence.

“Even though I didn’t do it, I am pleading guilty,” Berrios Rodriguez said via the translator.

Defense attorney Gerardo DelGado told Frederick County Circuit Court Judge Alex Iden that Berrios Rodriguez had previously made “a very lengthy admission” to his crimes.

Berrios Rodriguez’s comment came after he pleaded guilty to the computer solicitation charge, so Iden amended the plea to that count to an Alford plea of guilt. An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain his or her innocence while acknowledging there is sufficient evidence for a conviction.

Berrios Rodriguez’s guilty plea to attempting to take indecent liberties was not amended.

Assistant Frederick County Commonwealth’s Attorney Heather Enloe said Berrios Rodriguez sent a series of Facebook and text messages soliciting sex from what he thought was an underage girl. However, the “girl” he was communicating with from March 24 through June 28, 2017, was Jason Killian, an investigator with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office in partner with NOVA/DC Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Over the course of three months, Enloe said, Berrios Rodriguez proposed several sexual acts with the “girl” and made repeated attempts to meet face to face.

“I do not tell anyone, I promise,” Berrios Rodriguez wrote in one of the messages. “I’m afraid because you’re only 14, but if you need money, I can help.”

That was one of several times that Berrios Rodriguez offered to pay for sex, Enloe said.

On May 3, Berrios Rodriguez asked the “girl” if she was a police officer. Enloe said he voiced that suspicion several more times in the following weeks, but he nonetheless continued to request sexual encounters.

On June 28, the “girl” agreed to meet Berrios Rodriguez at her house. When he arrived at the address Killian had provided, Berrios Rodriguez was met and taken into custody by the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.

Near the end of Friday morning’s hearing, Berrios Rodriguez once again professed his innocence.

“I pled guilty, but I didn’t write those messages because I don’t know how to write in English,” he said via his translator.

Iden proceeded to impose the sentence requested in the plea agreement — a 10-year prison term with all but one year and one month suspended.

Following his release from prison, Berrios Rodriguez will be on supervised probation for two years and unsupervised probation for another three.

He will also be added to the Virginia Sex Offender Registry, be prohibited from having unsupervised contact with juveniles, and will not be allowed to use a computer or smartphone unless it is for employment purposes and his activities are monitored.

As an immigrant from Mexico, Berrios Rodriguez could also be deported following his release from prison. If that happens, Iden said, the probationary portion of his sentence will convert to 10 years of unsupervised probation, which will be upgraded to 10 years of supervised probation if he re-enters the United States.

— Contact Brian Brehm at bbrehm@winchesterstar.com Read more

Man accused of soliciting a child for sex in police sting

WINCHESTER — A 63-year-old city man is accused of trying to proposition a 13-year-old girl online for sex.

Lee Roy Smeltzer faces charges of attempted indecent liberties and proposing a sex act by a communications system.

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Internet Child Sex Ring Nabs 11 in Northern Virginia

Eleven men were caught in a sting operation this month targeting internet predators attempting to solicit sex with minors Read more