Pennsylvania Doctor Pleads Guilty to Multiple Child Sexual Exploitation Offenses

A doctor of internal medicine, Habib Bhatti, 44, of Barto, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty today to an information charging one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, one count of use of an interstate commerce facility to entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct, two counts of production of child pornography, and two counts of possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, in December 2018, Bhatti sexually exploited two minor victims, near Philadelphia, by producing child pornography of them while recording it without their knowledge. In December 2024, he also traveled in interstate commerce, from Pennsylvania to California, with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with two minor victims and to record it without their knowledge. Bhatti also pleaded guilty today to possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Following his arrest in September 2025, investigators executing a search warrant found hundreds of images and videos of CSAM the defendant had produced or collected over the years.

Bhatti is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 29. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania made the announcement.

The FBI Philadelphia Field Office investigated the case with substantial assistance from the High Technology Investigative Unit of the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).

Trial Attorney James E. Burke IV of CEOS and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Kulik for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and 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, visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.