Zachary T. Lee Acting United States Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia
Michael Tibbs, a 24-year-old resident of Carroll County, Virginia, has been arrested by FBI agents on charges of sexual exploitation of children. The arrest was based on a criminal complaint, and Tibbs appeared in front of a U.S. magistrate judge earlier this week. The judge ordered him to be detained without bond.
The case began in April 2023 when a 15-year-old minor reported to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center that a man had been grooming her for about a year and requesting nude images. FBI agents identified Tibbs as the person involved and viewed his Discord messages, revealing that Tibbs engaged in sexual conversations with multiple minor girls and compensated them to produce and send sexually explicit content.
During a search of Tibbs' home on July 18, 2024, his phone was seized. The device contained explicit images and videos of women of uncertain ages, including a 13-year-old minor depicted in two videos. The phone also had numerous computer-generated images of children being abused, including toddlers.
In an interview with agents, Tibbs confessed to using Discord to purchase content from minors, estimating purchases from 10 to 15 underage girls. Tibbs indicated his interest began after encountering child pornography on TikTok.
The announcement of the arrest was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Drew Inman is prosecuting the case, and the investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative by the Department of Justice started in 2006 to protect children from exploitation and abuse, involving federal, state, and local resources to target and prosecute criminals who exploit children.
It is important to note that a criminal complaint is only an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
