WASHINGTON — A Manassas, Virginia, volunteer music instructor has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for producing and sharing child pornography.
David Alexander Battle II, 24, was arrested in June 2015 after investigators had enough evidence that he was sharing child pornography on an online chat website and messaging app.
Detectives say they found two gigabytes worth of child pornography at Battle’s home and some of the videos involved infants, according to the Department of Justice. Other media found in the home was of young boys and girls, according to prosecutors.
After hearing and seeing the evidence, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found Battle guilty in March of production of child pornography, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, receipt of child pornography and distribution of child pornography.
Detectives believe Battle obtained some of the photos after striking up conversations with boys while posing as a teenage girl on the Kik messaging app.
According to court documents, Battle would attempt to convince underage boys to send nude photos of themselves to him.
It is believed that Battle did know two of the underage boys he chatted with on the chat app.
One of the boys he contacted went to Grace E. Metz Middle School in Manassas, where Battle was a volunteer music instructor. According to prosecutors the boy believed he was chatting with a girl his age and refused requests from Battle for nude photos of himself.
