NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

John L. Brownlee
United States Attorney
Heidi Coy
Public Affairs Specialist BB&T Building
310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906
Roanoke, Virginia 24011
(540) 857-2250
FAX (540) 857-2180

January 23, 2007

BRISTOL, VIRGINIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD EXPLOITATION CHARGES, FACES MINIMUM
OF 15 YEARS IN PRISON

United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that STEVEN B. GIBSON, 37, of Bristol, Virginia, pleaded guilty in the United States District Court to charges related to the sexual exploitation of children. GIBSON pleaded guilty to three charges, one charge for each victim, of producing child pornography.

“Mr. Gibson will serve a minimum of 15 years in prison for the irreparable harm he has inflicted on these young victims. The evidence shows that Mr. Gibson had more than 20 movies and 6,000 images containing child pornography on his computer. We want to send a message that anyone who violates our children in this manner will be prosecuted and punished,” said United States Attorney John Brownlee.

According to evidence presented by Special Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Lee, in July 2006, the FBI Office in Bristol, Virginia, and the Bristol Virginia Police Department received a lead from the Knoxville Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force regarding an investigation into the distribution, receipt and production of child pornography by STEVEN B. GIBSON. GIBSON was contacted at his residence in Bristol, Virginia, and consented to the search of his computer equipment. GIBSON was also interviewed by the agents of the FBI and Bristol VA Police Department. During this interview, GIBSON admitted trading child pornography over the internet with two men who lived in Minnesota and Florida. GIBSON admitted to viewing webcam images of these men performing sexual acts on young boys. GIBSON also admitted using his own webcam to display three boys, all under the age of 15, nude in his home to others on the internet and to sexually abusing the boys.

Following this initial interview and a preliminary forensic examination of GIBSON’S computer, an arrest warrant was issued for the GIBSON, a search warrant was issued for his apartment, and GIBSON’S victims were interviewed. The interviews of the victims corroborated GIBSON’S statements that sexual abuse had occurred and that this abuse was broadcast over the internet using a webcam attached to the GIBSON’S computer. Forensic examinations of GIBSON’S computer equipment determined that GIBSON was in possession of over 6,000 images of child pornography and more than 20 movies containing child pornography. The majority of these images had been transmitted over the internet. Furthermore, logs of instant messages were recovered from GIBSON’S computer that demonstrated that there were numerous individuals in different states and countries that were watching the broadcasting of GIBSON’S sexual abuse and making requests for different sexual acts to be performed. These instant messages also showed that GIBSON and others actively attempted to contact juveniles online and encouraged them to send them sexually explicit pictures of themselves. Subsequent to GIBSON’S arrest, he gave a complete confession to agents of the FBI and Bristol Virginia Police Department in which he described in detail the sexual abuse that had occurred for three years and how he had broadcast it over the internet so that others could watch the abuse.

GIBSON’S sentencing is set for April 18, 2007 at 1:30pm in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. GIBSON faces a mandatory minimum term of fifteen years in prison and a maximum term of ninety years in prison. Additionally, GIBSON faces a fine of $750,000.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bristol Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bristol Virginia Police Department, and the Knoxville Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Special Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee of the United States Attorney’s Office in Abingdon prosecuted the case.