Possession Of Child Sexual Abuse Material Puts Fairfax Man In Prison

FAIRFAX, VA — A Fairfax man who pleaded guilty in September 2023 to downloading millions of images and videos showing child exploitation and child sexual abuse was sentenced Thursday in federal court to seven years in prison.

James Andrew Whitney, 62, downloaded video and image files of minors engaged in sexually explicit content, some of which involving prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12, according to court documents.

Whitney used technology to hide his identity as he downloaded thousands of files depicting the sexual exploitation of children. One video showed a child being abducted from a playground and then the sadomasochistic rape of the same child, court documents say.

As early as April 2010, Whitney created projects using the downloaded imagery to photoshop prepubescent, naked, minor females into photographs, which he displayed around his residence, according to a release. He also narrated sexual encounters in which he interacted with the minor victims.

Investigators determined that Whitney had downloaded child sexual abuse material for at least 15 years, recovering more than five terabytes of such material from his electronic devices.

On Sept. 11, 2023, Whitney admitted in federal court that he had possessed and received child sexual abuse material, as well as obscene visual representations of children being sexually abused.