Eastern District of Virginia prosecutes 19 child exploitation cases under Project Safe Childhood in the previous month

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Project Safe Childhood is 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. Attorney's 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.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia brought seven new Project Safe Childhood cases during March while achieving seven convictions and eight substantial sentences, including a life sentence for a repeat offender.

Indictments

On March 3, a federal grand jury indicted David Brent Timberlake, 65, of Henrico, on charges of receipt of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and possession of CSAM. Case no. 3: 26-CR-26

On March 11, a federal grand jury indicted Joseph Downing Barnes Jr., 35, of Virginia Beach, on charges of production of CSAM and transportation of CSAM. In 2016, Barnes was convicted of receiving CSAM. Case no. 2:26-CR-29

On March 11, a federal grand jury indicted Tucker Lee Martin, 31, of Norfolk, on charges of production of CSAM, attempted production of CSAM, and attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. Case no. 2: 26-CR-32

Charges

Nicolas Antonio Lainez, 19, of Hawaii, was charged on March 12 by criminal complaint with production of CSAM and transportation of CSAM. Lainez was living with a family on Fort Eustis when he allegedly recorded himself sexually exploiting a six-year-old victim. Case no. 4:26-MJ-15

Pleas

Bahamian national and illegal alien Rian Wayne Johnson, 38, possessed on his cellphone CSAM depicting his sexual exploitation of an 11-year-old child. Johnson pled guilty on March 3 to sexual exploitation of a child. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9 and faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. Case no. 4:25-CR-59

Stephen Chadwick Howell, 26, of Arlington, sexually exploited a 15-year-old victim and produced multiple sexually explicit videos and images of the abuse, which he later distributed. On May 7, 2025, as law enforcement executed a search warrant at Howell's residence, Howell urinated on his laptop in an attempt to prevent the FBI from accessing its contents. On March 4, Howell pled guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and destruction of property to prevent seizure. Howell is scheduled to be sentenced on July 15 and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison. Case no. 1:25-CR-235

On several occasions from February 2025 to March 2025, Mexican national and illegal alien Samuel Flores De Dios sexually abused a 12-year-old victim and recorded the abuse in his apartment in Fredericksburg. On March 6, Flores De Dios pled guilty to production of CSAM. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24 and faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. Case no. 3:25-CR-158

In June 2024, John Joseph Chanel, 37, of Sterling, uploaded and then requested and received CSAM via an Internet platform. Chanel possessed 38 videos and 12 images of CSAM. On March 13, Chanel pled guilty to receipt of CSAM. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 16 and faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison. Case no. 1:26-CR-44

Kemp Jermaine Nelson, 33, of Newport News, filmed himself having sex with a 15-year-old victim who was a runaway and posted a video of the encounter on social media. On March 17, Nelson pled guilty to coercion and enticement of a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce CSAM. Nelson is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23 and faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. Case no. 4:25-CR-68

Alex Tyler Buenaga, 32, of Suffolk, a former Newport News firefighter, recorded himself sexually abusing a three-month-old infant over 90 times and, on at least one occasion, recorded himself blowing methamphetamine smoke in the infant's face. Buenaga pled guilty on March 25 to production of CSAM and coercion of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. He faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to life plus 60 years in prison when sentenced on Sept. 22. Case No. 2:25-CR-31

On Oct. 1, 2025, law enforcement searched the Arlington residence of Patrick Wanamaker, 35. Investigators found CSAM on Wanamaker's cellphone and laptop. Wanamaker also emailed to himself several Mega links that contained 279 images and 777 videos of CSAM, including images and videos of the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers. On March 25, Wanamaker pled guilty to receipt of CSAM. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 22 and faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison. Case no. 1:26-CR-53

Sentencing

On June 11, 2024, FBI agents searched the Norfolk residence of Douglas Edward Steele, Jr., 41. On his electronic devices, investigators found thousands of videos and images of CSAM. Steele estimated that he probably had approximately 5,000 stored CSAM files. On Nov. 24, 2025, Steele pled guilty to receipt and possession of CSAM. On March 5, Steele was sentenced to six years in prison. Case no. 2:25-CR-111

On March 31, 2015, David Christopher Schaefer, 38, was convicted of possession of CSAM and was sentenced to over eight years in prison and a life term of supervised release. In 2025, a probation officer searched Schaefer's residence and located nine unauthorized or unreported devices that Schaefer used to access, view, download, and exchange CSAM. Schaefer was attributed with over 25,000 CSAM images. On March 5, Schaefer was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Case no. 4:25-CR-51

Retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Cory Richard Hambley, 43, worked as a program analyst for the Missile Defense Agency and held a Top Secret security clearance. In November 2022, Hambley contacted his former girlfriend and encouraged her to provide CSAM depicting her abusing two minor children, ages five and nine, which she did. On March 11, Hambley was sentenced to 35 years in prison. The former girlfriend, Grace Elizabeth Paradis, 43, of Virginia Beach, pled guilty on Oct. 23, 2025, to conspiring to produce CSAM. She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21 and faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison. Case no. 2:25-CR-44

On Nov. 5, 2013, Nicholas Wayne Hanlon, 40, was convicted in the District of Columbia for receipt of CSAM and attempting to meet with a purported 12-year-old girl for sex. Following his release from prison, from November 2020 through July 2024, Hanlon used SnapChat and Instagram to contact and request CSAM from at least seven minors across multiple states. Investigators found approximately 150 child pornography images and 20 child pornography videos depicting Hanlon's victims on his cellphone and numerous additional videos and images in his SnapChat and Instagram accounts. On March 11, in the Eastern District of Virginia, Hanlon was sentenced to life in prison. Case no. 1:25-CR-151

Skylar James Duvall, 24, made arrangements with the guardian of a minor, including a determined amount of time and payment to the guardian, for certain sex acts to be committed against the victim. On Jan. 15, 2023, Duvall recorded a live stream of the abuse. On Duvall's electronic devices, investigators found additional CSAM, including over 500 images and 700 videos, as well as thousands of files of potential CSAM and CGI/animated child exploitive videos and images. On March 12, Duvall was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Case no. 4:25-CR-25

William Michael Webb, 41, of Chesapeake, used the BitTorrent application to download CSAM to his electronic devices, on which he possessed over 8,000 images and 800 videos of CSAM, as well as over 3,300 images of child erotica. Webb pled guilty on Sept. 25, 2025, to receipt of CSAM. He was sentenced on March 13 to five years in prison. Case no. 2:24-CR-102

Devin Sinclair Buries, 49, shared his vast CSAM collection with other users on BitTorrent. Buries possessed over 200 videos and over 19,000 images of CSAM. After his arrest, Buries fled to Ukraine. He was returned to the United States and arrested on Sept. 22, 2025, and pled guilty on Dec. 18, 2025. Buries was sentenced on March 18 to 10 years in prison. Case no. 1:24-CR-252

Michael J. Machonis , 30, of Bridgewater, New Jersey, and Asia Tamara Billups, 20, of Gloucester, Virginia, met online and discussed minors and the exchange of CSAM. On May 31, 2024, and June 1, 2024, Billups used a cellphone to produce four sexually explicit videos of a three-year-old toddler and a four-month-old infant. Billups transmitted the videos to Machonis. Billups pled guilty on April 14, 2025, and was sentenced on Sept. 19, 2025, to 15 years in prison. Machonis pled guilty on Oct. 24, 2025, and was sentenced on March 19 to 17 years in prison. Case no. 4:24-CR-70

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely accusations. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.