COURT NEWS: Loudoun County man sent to prison for eleven years for distribution of child porn
LEESBURG, VA. – Danero Jason Howard, 41, of Loudoun County was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment Feb. 22, 2019, in Loudoun County Circuit Court following his conviction in February 2018 on two counts of distribution of child pornography and seven counts of possession of child pornography. In addition to his prison sentence, the defendant will be required to register as a sex offender. Attorney General Mark R. Herring made the announcement after the defendant was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Jeanette A. Irby.
“With this strong sentence, another predator is off our streets and out of our community,” said Attorney General Herring. “An eleven-year sentence sends an important message to individuals who exploit children and rob them of their innocence through distribution and possession of child pornography that they will be brought to justice. I want to thank the local law enforcement agencies who worked with my team on this case. We will continue to work tirelessly to bring justice to those who harm and take advantage of children.”
Herring said that evidence presented in court showed that the defendant was identified through an undercover law enforcement investigation into the trading of child pornography over a peer-to-peer network on the internet.
Attorney General Mark Herring
After the laptop was seized, a forensic examination revealed hundreds of videos and images of child pornography,
Source of child porn traced to restaurant in Middleburg
An investigator tracked the source of the trading to an internet account belonging to a restaurant in the town of Middleburg in Loudoun County. When investigators saw the source appear on the peer-to-peer network, they immediately visited the restaurant, where they found the defendant, a dishwasher, alone in the basement with his laptop actively downloading and sharing child pornography.
Cops found dishwasher using restaurant internet in the basement to share child porn
The defendant admitted that he owned the laptop and that he was aware of the presence of child pornography on it. After the laptop was seized, a forensic examination revealed hundreds of videos and images of child pornography, as well as several hundred search terms relating to child pornography that had been used to find files on the peer-to-peer program.
The case was investigated by the Page County Sheriff’s Office, as part of the Northern Virginia – D.C. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The Virginia State Police Computer Evidence Recovery Section conducted the computer forensic examination in support of this case. Assistant Attorney General Melissa Chong, with cooperation from the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth.
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