WASHINGTON – Justin Lee Snowden, 33, of Pasadena, Md., was sentenced today to 97 months in prison on one count of distribution of child pornography for sending videos, over the internet, of children being sexually abused.
The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Acting Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Snowden pleaded guilty to the charge on July 7, 2023, in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced today by the Honorable Rudolph Contreras, who also ordered Snowden to serve 15 years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, in August and September of 2022, Snowden joined and participated in an online chat platform devoted to the sexual exploitation of children. Beginning on Aug. 19, 2022, Snowden communicated with an undercover officer, based in San Francisco, and offered a female child – whom he claimed was his daughter – to someone he believed had a sexual interest in children. On Sept. 17, Snowden had a similar conversation with an undercover agent in Tampa, Fla., regarding the abuse of girls who Snowden purported to be his daughters. The next day, he began an online chat with an undercover officer in Washington D.C., who was a member of the joint Metropolitan Police Department – FBI Child Exploitation Task Force.
During the chat, Snowden offered his purported 5- and 7-year-old daughters for sex with members of the group. In actuality, Snowden did not have any children. He also sent others non-explicit pictures of two minor females. During the chat, Snowden claimed that he had sexually abused the girls. Later, Snowden sent an image to the undercover agent of a nude toddler lying on her back with her legs spread, and a video depicting an adult man sexually abusing a prepubescent child. Snowden asked the undercover agent for sexually explicit images of the agent’s purported daughter.
On each occasion, Snowden had every reason to believe that he was chatting with someone who intended to sexually abuse a child or who was actively abusing one. Because law enforcement intervened, Snowden’s actions did not lead to the hands-on sexual abuse of an actual child.
Snowden was arrested on Sept. 26, 2022, in Washington D.C. He has been detained ever since.
This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia, including the Metropolitan Police Department. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.
It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jocelyn Bond and Trial Attorney Angelica Carrasco of the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Alexis Spencer-Anderson.
Off with his tallywacker. FJB.
8 years isn’t nearly enough. People who do this and act this way shouldn’t be considered human beings anymore and they don’t deserve to ever have human rights or freedom again. Disgusting pathetic creatures that deserve nothing but pain and suffering. Fingers crossed his fellow inmates feel the same way I do and he won’t be here wasting clean human breathing air that much longer
Pedophilia in any extent , on any level , is a psychological disorder . Certainly not a condonable or a excusable behavior . Pedophilia is heinous and destructive to all involved ..
Yet my first thought the death penalty for the perpetrator would be justice for the victim(s) … However on second thought pedophilia is a mental /psychological disease / disorder and a moral society does not provide death to perpetrators with mental disorders .
Lastly , no where is it mentioned in the article that the perpetrator be required to psychological review and or council …that being unreported because HIPPA reqs prevent us from knowing …. At best I hope it is a mandatory he receive psychological council and behavior modification …
I do support and believe in the death penalty only in cases where the perpetrator of certain crimes, when mentally sane, are without psychological disorder …