NORFOLK, Va. – A Virginia Beach man pleaded guilty yesterday to production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
According to court documents, on March 31, the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) were jointly conducting online investigations of persons looking to engage in sexual activity with minor children. Dylan Seader, 22, started a sexually explicit chat online with an undercover law enforcement agent (UC) who was posing as a 14-year-old girl. Seader and the UC agreed to meet that night to engage in sex. That night, Seader showed up at the designated meeting spot in Virginia Beach. As discussed in the chat, Seader brought condoms with him. A subsequent forensic review of Seader’s phone by VBPD showed, in addition to the chat with the UC, he possessed images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct in his Google Photos. The analysis also showed Seader produced visual depictions of himself performing a sexual act with a toddler.
Seader is scheduled to be sentenced on March 9, 2023. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Brian Dugan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; Derek W. Gordon, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. HSI Washington, D.C.; Mack Hickman, Special Agent in Charge of the NCIS Norfolk Field Office; and Paul Neudigate, Chief of Virginia Beach Police, made the announcement after U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Miller accepted the plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Yusi is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
In 2021, EDVA launched “UnMasked,” a community-based educational outreach and prevention program in Virginia dedicated to raising awareness and educating the community about the prevalence of online sexual exploitation involving children and young adults. UnMasked is a multi-disciplinary partnership of local, state, federal, and non-profit stakeholders. The core curriculum is provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) NetSmartz program. To report an incident involving online sexual exploitation, call 1-800-843-5678 or submit a report at report.cybertip.org. To request an UnMasked event at your school or organization, please contact EDVA’s Community Outreach Coordinator at USAVAE-UnMasked@usdoj.gov.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:22-cr-69.
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