Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Enticement, Child Pornography Charges

A Virginia man who used an online chat website to engage in sexually explicit conversations with a 12-year-old minor female and later induced the victim to engage in sexually explicit behavior over video chat, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Virginia to a pair of federal charges, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Thomas T. Cullen for the Western District of Virginia.

Roger Allen Bellini, 30, pleaded guilty today to one count of coercion and enticement and one count of possession of child pornography.  He will be sentenced on Jan. 4, 2021.

According to court documents, Bellini admitted to using an online chat website to communicate with minor females.  The defendant admitted the communications were sexual in nature.  Specifically, Bellini admitted to communicating with a minor via video chat, beginning when she was 12 years old.  He used screen capture software to record his computer screen while he engaged in video chats with the minor.  In these video chats, Bellini induced the minor to expose herself and perform sexually explicit acts. 

The investigation of the case was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.  Trial Attorney Leslie Fisher of the Criminal Division’s Child and Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Swartz prosecuted the case for the United States.

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. 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.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.