NORFOLK, Va. - Jonathon Giddens, 24, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, was sentenced yesterday to 360 months in prison, followed by lifetime of supervised release for production of child pornography. The court directed that this sentence was to run consecutively to the sentence imposed on Giddens in a related case in the City of Virginia Beach.
Giddens pleaded guilty on April 20, 2015. According to court documents, Giddens produced child pornography by tricking adolescent boys into masturbating on camera. Giddens developed numerous female alter egos, to whom he gave life by creating email addresses and accounts on dozens of social media sites. While posing as one of these girls, Giddens would then strike up online relationships with teenaged boys - both by email and chat services - and send them photographs or videos of a teenage girl exposing herself or masturbating. In exchange for these images, Giddens would convince these boys to take pictures or videos of themselves masturbating and email them to Giddens. Additionally, posing as one of his female aliases, he requested that the minors perform those acts on webcam which Giddens would then record. Giddens did not produce this pornography for its own end, but rather to use to trade with other pedophiles. In this way, Giddens amassed a collection of 6,000 images and 1,500 videos of child pornography, including a significant number of depictions of infants and toddlers being sexually abused, as well as sadomasochistic conduct, and bestiality. He also communicated with other persons about his method of successfully tricking these boys, and encouraged them to do the same.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis.
This case was investigated by HSI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys V. Kathleen Dougherty and Joseph L. Kosky prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:14-cr-117.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
