Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Producing and Distributing Child Pornography

A Manassas Park, Virginia man pleaded guilty today to producing and distributing child pornography.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick of the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady of the Eastern District of Virginia.

Michael Gerald Moody, 44, pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child pornography and one count of distributing child pornography.  According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, Moody admitted that, between 2017 and February 2018, he used a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct and he captured numerous images of that conduct with his cellular phone.  In addition, Moody engaged in text chats with other individuals through the online messaging application Kik Messenger.  These chats principally focused on the exchange of child pornography and discussions of the sexual abuse of children.  In the course of these chats, Moody distributed child pornography—including images that he himself produced, as well as other images—to at least eight other individuals.

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 14.

The case is being investigated by the FBI with the assistance of the Manassas Park Police Department.  Trial Attorney Kyle P. Reynolds of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay V. Prabhu of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.