UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

HARRISONBURG MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, FACES A MANDATORY MINIMUM OF 10 YEARS IN PRISON

United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that Jeffrey Bushong, of Harrisonburg, Virginia, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography after having been convicted of a prior felony child pornography charge. The charge carries a mandatory minimum 10 year prison sentence and a maximum 20 year prison sentence.

Bushong pleaded guilty in United States District Court in Harrisonburg before Judge B. Waugh Crigler.

According to evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorney Bill Gould, on February 28, 2006, officers executed a state search warrant at Bushong's home in Harrisonburg. The search warrant was obtained based on information from an ongoing multi-jurisdictional investigation that demonstrated that Bushong had received images of child pornography from an individual in the state of Wisconsin. The search of Bushong's computer uncovered multiple images of child pornography from the individual in Wisconsin. The images were in both picture and video form. Bushong made a statement to law enforcement admitting that he had images of child pornography and that he received the images from the individual in Wisconsin.

Bushong will be sentenced on February 23, 2007.

The case was investigated by the Harrisonburg Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Harrisonburg/Rockingham County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.

Assistant United States Attorney Bill Gould is prosecuting the case.