Crime & Safety

Alexandria Man Sentenced for Possession of Child Pornography, Traveling to Have Sex with a Minor

William G. VanSant pleaded guilty earlier this year.

A 51-year-old Alexandria man was sentenced to 70 months in prison for traveling to have sex with a minor and possessing child pornography, authorities announced Friday.

William G. VanSant pleaded guilty to the charges in August 2013 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, according to a press release from the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Authorities said that on March 20, 2013, VanSant contacted an undercover officer with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. The officer had posted a message on a website frequented by child predators.

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VanSant communicated with the undercover officer who had been posing as the father of an under-aged girl, authorities said. VanSant arranged with the undercover officer to meet and have sex with the child.

As they communicated, VanSant sent the undercover officer several images of child pornography, according to the FBI. On March 22, 2013, VanSant traveled from Virginia to a pre-arranged meeting place in Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was arrested.

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This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD.


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