A 26-year-old Arlington man who worked as an FBI contractor is facing child exploitation and pornography charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria says a grand jury returned charges Wednesday against Brett Janes, including “two counts of sexual exploitation of children and production of CSAM, one count of attempted coercion and enticement, and one count of receipt of child pornography.”
If convicted he’ll face at least 15 years in prison.
Address records suggest that Janes lived in the Long Branch Creek neighborhood, a few blocks from Oakridge Elementary School. Federal prosecutors say he met and then exploited boys over the internet, including via video games and on Discord.
More on the charges, below, from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia returned an indictment today charging a former FBI contractor with sexual exploitation of children.
According to court documents, Brett Janes, 26, of Arlington, Virginia, allegedly contacted roughly a dozen minor boys over Discord and Snapchat. He allegedly groomed the minors by telling them he worked for a U.S. intelligence agency before repeatedly threatening suicide if the minors did not continue to communicate with him. Janes allegedly enticed one victim, a 13-year-old boy whom he met through the first-person shooter game Valorant, to strip and masturbate over a live video Discord call by threatening to kill himself and by paying him money over CashApp. He allegedly enticed a 12-year-old boy to create and send him child sexual abuse material (CSAM) over Discord through flattery and repeated begging.
Janes allegedly received child sexual abuse material from these two minors, as well as two separate minor victims, and attempted to meet up with a minor. He also allegedly purchased hundreds of videos and images of child sexual abuse material from Telegram.
Janes is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of children and production of CSAM, one count of attempted coercion and enticement, and one count of receipt of child pornography. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Arlington County Chief of Police, Charles “Andy” Penn, made the announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney McKenzie Hightower is prosecuting the case.
Any individuals who believe they or someone they know may have been victimized by Janes are encouraged to contact the FBI at 202-278-2000 and ask to speak to the child exploitation and human trafficking task force.
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 the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 www.justice.gov/psc.
Photo by David Trinks on Unsplash
Arlington County police are looking for a man who sexually abused a boy on a local trail.
The incident happened around 9 a.m. Sunday morning, on a trail near the intersection of Route 50 and Carlin Springs Road. That’s near Kenmore Middle School, Bluemont Park and the W&OD Trail.
“At approximately 9:09 a.m. on July 30, police were dispatched to the report of an assault just occurred,” Arlington County police said today in a crime report. “Upon arrival, it was determined the juvenile victim was walking on the trail when he was approached by the unknown male suspect. The suspect engaged the victim in conversation before touching him inappropriately and fleeing the scene on foot.”
“Officers canvassed the area for the suspect yielding negative results. No injuries were reported,” the crime report continues. “The suspect is described as a heavy-set Hispanic male in his 40’s with gray hair, approximately 5’7” wearing a red shirt and dark sweat pants. The investigation is ongoing.”
Map via Google Maps
Arlington resident James Gordon Meek, formerly a prominent television news producer, has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced the plea this afternoon. Meek, 53, faces a minimum sentence of 5 year in federal prison and a maximum sentence of several decades.
The FBI raided Meek’s apartment on Columbia Pike in April 2022, as photos first published by ARLnow — taken by local resident John Antonelli — showed. Speculation about the raid swirled in the ensuing months, in part due to Meek’s job as a prominent producer for ABC News and his former role in counter-terrorism for the House Committee on Homeland Security.
In the end, Meek was being investigated for possession of child sexual abuse material on his phone and on other devices. He pleaded guilty today and is set to be sentenced in late September.
More, below, from a U.S. Dept. of Justice press release.
An Arlington man pleaded guilty today to transportation and possession of child sexual abuse material.
According to court documents, while visiting South Carolina in February 2020, James Gordon Meek, 53, used an online messaging platform on his iPhone to send and receive images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and to discuss his sexual interest in children. Some of the images and videos depicted prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12, including an infant being raped. Meek brought the iPhone containing the child sexual abuse material back with him when he returned to Virginia. Additionally, Meek possessed multiple electronic devices containing images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Meek is scheduled to be sentenced on September 29. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years imprisonment and a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment for each charge. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Kenneth A. Polite, Jr, Assistant Attorney General. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and David Sundberg, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton accepted the plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Bedell and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney Kramer are prosecuting the case.
This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking. Valuable assistance was provided by the Arlington County Police Department.
This case was also 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 the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 www.justice.gov/psc.
A 29-year-old Arlington man has been charged in the death of a three-month-old girl last fall.
Jerard Hargrove is charged with homicide and child abuse after a medical examiner this month determined that the child died from a blow to the head.
The child died in the hospital on Oct. 8, 2022, after being found unresponsive at a residence in the Columbia Forest neighborhood a month earlier, on Sept. 1. The medical examiner’s finding brings the number of homicides in Arlington last year to two.
More, below, from an Arlington County police press release.
The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit is announcing charges have been obtained in a 2022 infant death investigation. Jerard Hargrove, 29, of Arlington, VA, was arrested and charged with Homicide and Child Abuse/Neglect (x2). He is being held without bond in the Arlington County Detention Facility.
At approximately 7:22 a.m. on September 1, 2022, police were dispatched to the 1000 block of S. Frederick Street for the report of cardiac arrest involving a 3-month-old female infant. Upon arrival, Mr. Hargrove reported he was home with the infant when he located her unresponsive. Medics treated the infant on scene before transporting her to an area hospital. The infant remained hospitalized and died on October 8, 2022.
A death investigation was then initiated by the Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit. In April 2023, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the manner of death a homicide with cause being complications of blunt force injury to the head. Indictments for Mr. Hargrove were subsequently presented to and returned by a grand jury.
The identity of the deceased is being withheld in accordance with Virginia Code § 19.2-11.2 which limits Virginia law enforcement agencies from directly or indirectly identifying deceased juvenile victims of a crime.
This remains an active criminal investigation and anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4180 or [email protected]. Information may also be reported anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). For additional community resources and contact information, visit our website.
Update on 3/28/23 — From the Arlington County Police Department today: “Detectives conducted a thorough investigation which ultimately determined a sexual assault had not occurred at Columbia Pike and S. Four Mile Run Drive on the morning of March 6, 2023. The investigation into this incident has concluded and there is no ongoing threat to the community.”
Earlier: Police are investigating the sexual assault of a teen girl Sunday night along Columbia Pike.
The attack happened around 9:15 p.m., near the intersection of the Pike and S. Four Mile Run Drive. The suspect grabbed the girl from behind, pulled her into the woods and sexually assaulted her while armed with a “bladed object.”
Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect, who was only described by his clothing.
More from an Arlington County police press release, below.
The Arlington County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is investigating a sexual assault on S. Four Mile Run Drive and is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect.
At approximately 12:11 a.m. on March 6, police were dispatched to the report of a sexual assault at Columbia Pike and S. Four Mile Run Drive. Upon arrival, it was determined that at approximately 9:15 p.m. on March 5, the female victim, a juvenile in her teens, was walking in the 4900 block of Columbia Pike when the suspect began to follow her. As she turned onto S. Four Mile Run Drive, the suspect grabbed her from behind and touched her inappropriately before pulling her into a wooded area. The suspect then produced a bladed object and sexually assaulted the victim before fleeing the scene on foot. The victim was then able to walk home and seek assistance.
The suspect is described as an unknown race male wearing a black jacket and black or gray sweatpants.
This remains an active investigation and anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact Detective R. Munizza at 703-228-4171 or [email protected] or the Arlington County Police Department’s Tip Line at 703-228-4180 or [email protected]. Information may also be reported anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
A 94-year-old man has been arrested and charged with sex crimes against children.
Arlington resident Adolfo Zambrano is facing two counts of Aggravated Sexual Battery, following an incident earlier this month at a home along Columbia Pike and accusations of child sexual abuse dating back to 1999.
Arlington County police are now seeking additional potential victims.
More from an ACPD press release, below.
The Arlington County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is seeking possible additional victims of a suspect charged with sex offenses. Adolfo Zambrano, 94, of Arlington, VA, was arrested and charged with two counts of Aggravated Sexual Battery. He is being held without bond in the Arlington County Detention Facility.
At approximately 6:25 p.m. on February 10, police were dispatched to the late report of an assault. Upon arrival, it was determined at approximately 4:30 p.m., the witness observed a suspicious incident between the known suspect and a child inside a residence along Columbia Pike. The witness confronted the suspect, he left the home and she subsequently contacted police.
During the course of the investigation, detectives determined the suspect inappropriately touched the child. Additionally, detectives identified an adult female victim who reported having been touched inappropriately by the suspect in 1999 when she was a child. As a result of the investigation, detectives obtained warrants for his arrest and he was taken into custody on the evening of February 16, 2023.
This remains an active criminal investigation. Anyone with past inappropriate encounters with this suspect or who has additional information related to this investigation is asked to contact Detective H. Molina at 703-228-4208 or [email protected]. Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
A Falls Church man is facing charges after his car was stolen with a child inside.
The theft happened around dinnertime Sunday near the busy intersection of N. Lynn Street and Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. The car and the child were quickly located in Southeast D.C.
“At approximately 6:01 p.m. on August 28, officers were flagged down by a vehicle owner who reported his parked, idling vehicle had been stolen with his child inside,” Arlington County police said in a crime report this afternoon.
“A lookout was broadcast for the vehicle and child, including to surrounding jurisdictions,” ACPD said. “At approximately 6:20 p.m. the Metropolitan Police Department reported locating the stolen vehicle with the child inside in the 2200 block of Fairlawn Avenue SE Washington D.C. The child was unharmed.”
Police are still looking for the suspect, who fled from the vehicle before police found it. The owner of the car, a 38-year-old Falls Church resident “was charged with Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor and released on a summons.”
“The investigation is ongoing,” said ACPD.
County Prepping New Tree Study — “Arlington leaders may take their next crack at guesstimating the number of trees in the county – a topic not without political as well as environmental ramifications – early in 2023, if all goes according to plan… estimating the cost at $100,000 to $150,000.” [Sun Gazette]
New Name for GMU Arlington Campus — “George Mason University announced today that its Arlington Campus will be renamed Mason Square as the new centerpiece of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor for multi-disciplinary talent and business development, as well as a civic and cultural destination. Also being announced is Fuse at Mason Square, the name of the new technology-forward building that is the heart of Mason’s commitment to growing Northern Virginia’s next-generation workforce. A groundbreaking ceremony for Fuse at Mason Square will take place April 6.” [Press Release]
FBI Warns of ‘Sextortion’ of Boys — “The FBI Washington Field Office is warning parents and caregivers about an increase in incidents involving sextortion of young children. The FBI is receiving an increasing number of reports of adults posing as young girls coercing young boys through social media to produce sexual images and videos and then extorting money from them.” [FBI]
Nature Center Staffing Slowly Returning — “Don’t expect hours of operation at Arlington’s two county-government natures centers to return to pre-pandemic levels in the coming year, or maybe ever, but local leaders say that doesn’t mean nature programs won’t have priority in coming years… [the] hope for the coming year was to use funding for temporary workers to increase hours at the nature center, including perhaps evening hours.” [Sun Gazette]
Church Wins Climate Award — “Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ’s commitment to fighting climate change over the past 15 years landed it a top award in the 2022 Cool Congregations Challenge. Rock Spring, on Little Falls Road in Arlington, was named the 2022 winner of the Energy Saver category in the challenge, sponsored by Interfaith Power & Light, a nonprofit group that seeks to motivate people of faith to take steps to address climate change.” [Patch]
Alexandria Schools Propose SRO Extension — “Alexandria City Public Schools is requesting an extension of its controversial school resource officer (SRO) program through the end of the 2022-2023 school year. School Board Chair Meagan Alderton says that the extension is part of the reimagining of the $800,000 program.” [ALXnow]
It’s Friday — Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High of 58 and low of 47. Sunrise at 7:05 am and sunset at 7:26 pm. [Weather.gov]
Arlington Public Schools will now involve the police anytime it learns of a student disseminating nude images or videos of kids and teenagers.
The Arlington School Board made the change last night (Thursday) when members approved a number of changes to a body of policies governing student conduct and discipline.
Now, school principals are required to notify the police when a student posts, distributes, displays or shares “material of a sexual nature” — specifically, “nude images or nude video of a minor,” according to the handbook. Students found doing this will also immediately receive an out-of-school suspension.
The offense joins a list of others requiring police intervention, including:
- Sale or distribution of alcohol
- Possession of weapons, including BB and airsoft guns
- Physical assault on a member of the school staff or students with a weapon
- Setting fires or using or possessing explosives or fireworks on school property
- False alarms and bomb threats
- School property theft or extortion
Virginia State Code requires schools to report to law enforcement certain incidents that occur on school grounds, school buses or during school-sanctioned activities, if they constitute a felony offense.
Per the state code, these offenses include assault that results in injury, sexual assault, abduction and stalking, conduct involving drugs and alcohol and possession of illegal firearms or explosives.
The law was amended last year so police intervention is no longer required for these offenses if they’re deemed misdemeanors.
The state list does not include the possession and distribution of nude images and videos of minors under the age of 18. Producing, publishing, selling or financing such content is, however, a felony offense for children and adults, and APS says it made the addition to align with these statutes.
The added offense was bundled in with a number of other changes aimed at making school discipline more “restorative” — that is, involving police less and seeking alternatives to traditional forms of punishment, which removes kids from school. This push within APS is concurrent with efforts in Arlington County to divert young people who commit certain crimes from the criminal justice system.
“There have been efforts at the staff level to bring a more restorative approach to our disciplinary policies for a very, very very long time,” said School Board Member Cristina Diaz-Torres of the bundle of new and revised policies.
“This has been a lot of important work to develop and it’s an important step forward,” she added. “This is a really, really momentous occasion to finally see it come to fruition.”
Board members voted on the same day that APS publicized its new Memorandum of Understanding governing when police can and cannot be in schools.
School Board members had voted last summer to remove School Resource Officers from school grounds and reimagine the relationship between the Arlington County Police Department and APS.
Although officers are no longer in schools on a daily basis, they are still dispatched for serious situations. Within the last year, police responded to what turned out to be false threats of a hostage situation at Yorktown High School in February and a false report of a school shooter at Washington-Liberty High School in October.
A Falls Church woman is facing numerous charges after police say she fled from officers after a hit-and-run crash — all while a child was in her car.
The incident happened around 1:30 p.m. on Christmas Day, in the Green Valley area. It started with a crash on S. Glebe Road, just north of the I-395 interchange, and ended with a second crash less than a mile away.
From an Arlington County Police Department crime report:
At approximately 1:25 p.m. on December 25, police were dispatched to the report of a crash with injury. As officers arrived on scene, one of the vehicles involved in the initial crash fled the scene. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, however, the suspect disregarded and continued driving at a high rate of speed in the area. Officers did not pursue the vehicle and followed at a distance. Officers observed the suspect strike another vehicle at the intersection of S. Glebe Road and Walter Reed Drive, causing extensive damage, then come to a stop on Walter Reed Drive. The suspect exited the vehicle and was subsequently taken into custody by arriving officers without further incident. […]
[The suspect], 25, of Falls Church, Va., was arrested and charged with Hit and Run – Attended Property: Injury/Damage >$1000 (x2), Eluding, and Abuse & Neglect of a Child, and issued summons for Improper Registration and No Insurance. She was held on a secured bond.
ACPD spokeswoman Kirby Clark said there was a child in the 25-year-old woman’s car at the time of the crashes, leading to the child abuse charge.
Only one minor injury was reported in the Christmas crashes.
“The driver of the second vehicle involved in the first crash sustained minor injuries and was evaluated on scene by medics,” Clark said. “No injuries were reported in the second crash.”
Lockheed Downsizes Arlington Presence — “Lockheed Martin Corp. has re-upped its Crystal City presence, but for less space. The nation’s largest government contractor renewed its lease at 2121 Crystal Drive, but for only 180,000 square feet, downsizing from 220,000 square feet, according to CBRE. That 18% contraction accounts for one floor of the 12-story, 505,000-square-foot office building.” [Washington Business Journal]
More Office Interest in Ballston — “It’s masks on as Mark Witschorik readies for another tour at Ballston Exchange. The 783,000-square-foot office complex at the heart of the Arlington neighborhood was once the home of the National Science Foundation, but since it left in 2017, developer Jamestown has worked to bring new office users into the building… Witschorik, Jamestown’s senior vice president of asset management, says things are picking up.” [Washington Business Journal]
Local Man Sentenced in Child Porn Case — “An Arlington man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for production and receipt of child pornography… According to court documents, Abraham Razook, 43, admitted to sexually exploiting a prepubescent minor on multiple occasions and producing videos of this abuse.” [Dept. of Justice]
German Struggles at APS Abate — “Arlington school officials say they’re hoping to be back on track by the end of the month to address yet another crisis that popped up at the start of the school system – the lack of a teacher to instruct students in certain German-language classes. The educator who instructed the classes was among those who left the school system at the start of the school year, requiring some students taking German to receive instruction online as a stopgap measure. That provoked a furor among some impacted students and their parents.” [Sun Gazette]
