A Leesburg, Virginia, man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for the possession of child sexual abuse material and required to register as a child sex offender for life.
Eric Phillip Johnston, 47, was accused of downloading numerous files of child sexual abuse material.
Prosecutors said in a news release that Virginia State Police launched an investigation in the spring of 2023 into an online network that shared child sexual abuse material. Investigators collected evidence of Johnston downloading over 1,000 files.
Upon executing a search warrant of Johnston’s residence, authorities found child sexual abuse material on a number of electronic devices and secret photos taken by the Leesburg resident on a cellphone.
Senior Commonwealth’s Attorney C. Anthony Needham III said during the sentencing hearing that Johnston represented a danger to the public.
Needham mentioned a testimony made by a Virginia State Police special agent that stated: “Over 1,300 images and videos were found of local clothed female children and adults, surreptitiously taken at pools, day care centers, and stores by the defendant … the Commonwealth is unwilling to wait until he puts his hands on someone.”
Johnston’s defense argued for a reduced sentence, claiming he took pictures that were “not illegal, but inappropriate.”
Sentencing guidelines recommend offenders receive prison sentences ranging between two and a half to four years, but Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James Fisher said he gave Johnston a maximum 20-year sentence “to send a message” for his crime.
However, of the 20 years, 10 years were suspended. The suspension is contingent upon a satisfactory completion of Johnston’s 10-year active incarceration in the Virginia Department of Corrections.
“The total number of photos is shocking,” Fisher said. “The public deserves retribution.”
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