WASHINGTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), published as received.

            WASHINGTON – Lucas Allen Fussell, 42, of Onley, Virginia, pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges arising out of his distribution of child pornography to an undercover law enforcement officer in June 2024, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division; and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Fussell pleaded guilty on December 18 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to two counts of distribution of child pornography. The Honorable Rudolph Contreras scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 6, 2025.

            According to court papers, between December 20, 2023, and February 7, 2024, Fussell, using an anonymous account on an end-to-end encrypted messaging application, exchanged videos and images containing child pornography with another individual whose phone was later seized and searched by the FBI pursuant to a search warrant. In the course those conversations, Fussell shared details that revealed his identity. Those details included his home address, a description of his vehicle, and numerous sexualized comments about examining the genitals of patients—some as young as 11 years old—that he saw in the course of his work as a nurse practitioner.

            In June 2024, an undercover agent with the FBI-MPD Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force used the seized phone to respond to a message from Fussell on the end-to-end encrypted messaging app. On June 22, 2024, and again on June 30, 2024, Fussell sent the undercover agent numerous images and videos depicting the rape and sexual abuse of prepubescent boys. 

              On July 16, 2024, the FBI executed a search warrant at Fussell’s residence in Onley, Virginia, and seized numerous encrypted electronic devices. Fussell was arrested and has remained in custody ever since.

            Fussell faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a statutory maximum of 40 years in prison. He also faces mandatory restitution. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentence imposed in this case will be determined by the Court after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul V. Courtney of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney James E. Burke IV of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

            The FBI Washington Field Office and MPD’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI Norfolk Field Office, the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office, the Onley Police Department, CEOS’s High Technology Investigative Unit, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

            This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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 justice.gov/psc.

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