A 39-year-old man from Virginia was convicted Thursday by a federal jury for obtaining, seeking, and promoting child pornography.
Christopher Sueiro of Fairfax, Virginia, had downloaded videos and pictures depicting the sexual abuse of minors as young as four years old, according to a Department Of Justice (DOJ) press release. Sueiro used the Darknet to request child porn and make posts promoting related content.
“The trafficking of child pornography causes incalculable and irreparable harm to society’s most vulnerable victims, which often continues long after the abuse has occurred,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Raj Parekh. “Thanks to the painstaking efforts of our law enforcement partners and prosecutors on this case, the defendant has been held accountable by a jury of his peers for his heinous criminal conduct.”
Jury convicts Virginia man for downloading thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse. Used Darknet site to solicit and promote child pornography. https://t.co/JLsor4s1Oz
— U.S. Attorney EDVA (@EDVAnews) March 4, 2021
Sueiro used a peer-to-peer network to download the content, doing so repeatedly for at least four years, accumulating a collection of thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse, court documents and evidence presented at the trial revealed, according to the DOJ.
He had also signed up to be a member of a secret Darknet web service that specialized in trafficking child porn material featuring preteen boys, the release stated. There, Sueiro had uploaded posts on the site promoting and requesting images and videos of child sexual abuse from other users, even trying to receive such content from them. (RELATED: Chris D’Elia Accused Of Soliciting Child Pornography From A 17-Year-Old In New Lawsuit)
Sueiro also possessed documents detailing child sexual abuse graphically, a how-to-find-child-porn-online guide, alongside the huge collection of pornographic content on his electronic devices, the DOJ stated.
The jury convicted Sueiro of four counts, according to the release: receiving child pornography, possessing child pornography, attempting to receive child pornography, as well as promoting and soliciting child pornography.
A mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum punishment of 20 years’ imprisonment for each count he faces are expected when he is sentenced on Jun. 16, according to the DOJ.