L Walker 
A former Leesburg resident has pleaded guilty to multiple counts related to downloaded images of child sexual abuse on the Internet.
According to court documents, Jason E. Holmes, 49, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, is a design professional who previously resided in Leesburg prior to moving to West Virginia.
Holmes admitted that from October 2016 to April 2018 he intentionally searched for, downloaded and occasionally paid for access to images and videos showing sexual abuse of children, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Holmes reportedly did so using the dark web, peer-to-peer software and password-protected websites on the open Internet.
Prosecutors said law enforcement discovered tens of thousands of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children across 13 different electronic devices seized from Holmes’s home, as well as evidence that Holmes used encryption technology on these devices.
Additionally, during the search law enforcement recovered enlarged, printed-out images of child pornography that Holmes admitted to posting to foamboard cutouts and placing around his home, according to the Department of Justice.
Holmes pleaded guilty Aug. 12 to receipt of child pornography. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison when sentenced on Oct. 27.
It was not immediately clear whether Holmes conducted the activities in Loudoun County or elsewhere.
The 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 apprehend and prosecute people who exploit children via the Internet.
