Man Pleads Guilty to Multiple Child Exploitation Offenses

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Vienna man pleaded guilty today to multiple charges related to his possession of images of child sexual abuse and attempted transfer of obscene material to minors.

According to court documents, in 2005, Alan Tabish, 36, met a 15-year-old girl online. Tabish picked up the minor girl from her parents’ residence, and drove her to his home, where he provided her with alcohol and then recorded images and videos of himself engaging in sexual conduct with her. The victim reported the incident in 2019, which led law enforcement to discover the images and videos on a computer hard drive in Tabish’s home. Additional online chats were recovered from this hard drive in which Tabish sent sexually explicit images of himself to individuals who identified themselves as minor girls.     

Tabish pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and the attempted transfer of obscene material to minors and faces a sentence of 7 to 12 years in prison when sentenced on June 23. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Timothy M. Dunham, Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Division, FBI Washington Field Office; and Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston, Jr. accepted the plea. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney William G. Clayman is prosecuting the case.

This matter was investigated jointly by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and the Fairfax County Police Department. The task force is charged with identifying and investigating child predators and those individuals and criminal enterprises engaged in human trafficking.

Assistance in the prosecution has been provided by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney Dougherty Russell.

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. 1:20-cr-045.