Child Porn Case: Fairfax County Man Pleads Guilty

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- Lucas Aronson, 31, of Fairfax County, pleaded guilty Tuesday to production of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Aronson pleaded guilty to enticing minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct online and recording the acts, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Aronson streamed a video of a toddler-aged female engaged in sexually explicit conduct with an adult male on a chat website in January 2015, authorities said.

Before that, Aronson also posed as a minor girl online and chatted with minor girls, asking them to send him sexually explicit videos of themselves, according to the Justice Department. Videos of minor girls chatting and responding to Aronson’s requests were found at his home, according to authorities.

Aronson faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 18, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Leslie R. Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Fairfax County Chief of Police; and Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Washington, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga.

The Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) assisted in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay V. Prabhu and Trial Attorney Lauren Britsch of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section prosecuted the case.

This investigation was a 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 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.

PHOTO: Seal of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia