NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Newport News
man today of attempted receipt of obscene images depicting the sexual abuse of
children, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and penalties for a
registered sex offender.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial,
Elmer E. Eychaner, III, 46, previously was convicted in federal court of child
pornography crimes in 2008. On June 13, 2016, the defendant began a period of
federal supervision in the Eastern District of Virginia. The defendant
originally was prohibited from having a computer, but he requested a computer
so that he could look for a better job. The probation office allowed the
defendant to have a computer that was monitored through a third-party company,
RemoteCOM.
On November 17, 2016, the defendant went onto his
government-monitored computer and searched for obscene cartoon images depicting
the sexual abuse of minors. He utilized voice recognition software, Cortana, to
try to evade the computer-monitoring software. After he was finished searching
for the obscene images, he deleted his search history. The next day, he called
his federal probation officer and confessed. When the probation officer told
him she was coming to collect his computer, he admitted that he had removed the
hard drive and thrown it down a storm drain.
Eychaner previously was convicted of promoting obscenity to
minors in North Dakota on August 21, 1992, and gross sexual imposition in North
Dakota on May 10, 1994.
Eychaner faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison
when sentenced on August 23, 2018. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically
less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine
any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other
statutory factors.
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 the 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.justice.gov/psc.
Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the
Eastern District of Virginia, and Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of
the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge
Mark S. Davis accepted the verdict. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa R. McKeel and
Megan M. Cowles are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of
the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court
documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for
the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No.
4:17-cr-76.
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