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Man to spend 22 years in prison for producing images of child sexual abuse, driving to Norfolk to meet teen for sex

Posted at 8:35 PM, Dec 16, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-16 20:35:46-05

NORFOLK, Va. – A Keswick, Virginia, man was sentenced Monday to 22 years in prison for his role in producing images of child sexual abuse and for trying to meet a minor for sex.

Court documents say in 2019, Bryan Wesley Petitt, 33, engaged in sexually explicit communications with an undercover agent he thought was a 14-year-old girl. They allege Petitt drove from Charlottesville to military housing in Norfolk in order to engage in sex with the girl.

After Petitt was arrested, law enforcement officers discovered images of child sexual abuse on his phone. Investigators later learned that he produced one of the images.

Petitt pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and attempted coercion and enticement of a minor in August of this year. He originally faced a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 50 years in prison

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.

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