Sterling man sentenced to five years in prison for trading in child sexual abuse material

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Sterling man was sentenced today to five years in prison for receipt of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to court documents, in June of 2024, John Joseph Chanel, 37, uploaded two videos depicting CSAM to an Internet-based cloud storage platform and requested and received images and videos depicting CSAM via an Internet-based peer-to-peer platform. Forensic analysis of Chanel's devices and social media accounts revealed that in June 2024, a user on the KiK social media platform asked the Chanel if he had child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to trade. Chanel confirmed he did and provided a link to his Dropbox account, which contained numerous images and videos of CSAM. The other user reciprocated. Chanel asked for more, and the other user provided more. A similar exchange occurred on the same messaging platform three days later.

On Sept. 25, 2024, law enforcement searched Chanel's residence in Sterling and seized Chanel's cellphone and computer. Investigators identified dozens of CSAM files on his devices, as well as in his social media and cloud storage accounts. The files included graphic depictions of the sexual abuse of children.

Chanel pled guilty on March 13.

The FBI Washington Field Office investigated this case. Former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lyndi McVey and Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Strobbe prosecuted the case.

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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District CourtLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 1:26-cr-44.