Defendant victimized 13-year-old boy and another minor
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Adam Jacob Zottoli, 32, of Fairfax, Va., was sentenced today to 25 years in prison, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, for producing child pornography involving a 13-year-old boy and another minor.
Dana J. Boente, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Colonel Edwin C. Roessler, Jr., Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.
Zottoli pleaded guiltyon Oct. 29, 2013. According to court documents, on March 19, 2013, a 13-year-old boy came to the attention of the Fairfax County Police Department based on concerns at school. The minor told law enforcement that he had been sexually assaulted by Zottoli over the past three years, and that Zottoli had photographed some of the incidents. Law enforcement then obtained search warrants for Zottoli’s house and computers, and the forensic review of Zottoli’s computers found images and videos of the minor, as well as videos and images of another minor. After Zottoli was arrested by the Fairfax County Police Department on April 4, 2013, he admitted to producing child pornography.
Zottoli previously was convicted of possession of child pornography on May 1, 2000 in the Eastern District of Virginia and was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison. As a result of that prior conviction, Zottoli was subject to an increased mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison during today’s sentencing.
This case was investigated by the Fairfax County Police Department. Special Assistant United States Attorney Alicia J. Yass, a Trial Attorney with the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, is prosecuting the case on behalf of 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
