News Releases

Virginia man sentenced to seven years on child pornography charges

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Thomas Yu, 31, of Falls Church, Va., was sentenced today to 84 months in prison by the Honorable District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, as a result of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation. Upon his release, Yu will remain under supervised release for seven years. Yu will also be required to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works or attends school. On Feb. 9, 2009, after a three-day jury trial, Yu was found guilty of possession, receipt and distribution of child pornography.

Dana J. Boente, U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and James Dinkins, special agent in charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in Washington, D.C., made the announcement.

According to court proceedings, in July 2006, Yu distributed and received multiple images of child pornography over the internet. In February 2007, investigators executed a search warrant at Yu's residence and seized multiple computers and computer equipment from his bedroom. A forensic analysis of this computer equipment revealed thousands of images and several movies of child pornography and child erotica.

Assistant U. S. Attorney Jay Prabhu and Special Assistant U. S. Attorney Andrew McCormack, who is on detail from the Department of Justice's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, prosecuted the case for the United States.

This investigation was a part of Operation Predator which identifies, investigates and arrests child predators and sexual offenders. Since its inception in 2003, ICE and its law enforcement partners across the United States and around the world have identified, arrested and brought to justice more than 11,000 child predators.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.