Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Virginia Man Convicted of Receiving Child Pornography on Tor Network Forum for Child Predators



A Purcellville, Virginia man who was a member of a website dedicated to the advertising and sharing of child pornography on an online anonymous network pleaded guilty today to receipt of child pornography.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick of the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement.

Nikolai Bosyk, 40, was charged on Oct. 17, 2017, and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia.  Sentencing is scheduled for May 4.

According to admissions made in conjunction with the guilty plea, Bosyk was a member of an online bulletin board that operated on an anonymous online network and was dedicated to the sharing of child pornography.  He downloaded child pornography, from that website and other places on the Internet.  A forensic review of his  laptop discovered thousands of images and videos of child pornography. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case, with assistance from the High Technology Investigative Unit of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), and the Northern Virginia-Washington, D.C. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

CEOS Trial Attorney Lauren E. Britsch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Smith III of the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as 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.

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