Attorney sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually exploiting numerous children

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A former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attorney was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for conspiring to sexually exploit numerous children.

According to court documents, from January 2018 to October 2021, Mark Black, 50, of Arlington, Virginia, was a member of two online groups dedicated to locating underage girls online and convincing the girls to livestream themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Black and his co-conspirators covertly recorded these livestreams and shared the videos with each other.

In July 2019, Black induced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct on a live-streaming application while screen-recording that activity. That same month, Black and a co-conspirator also groomed another minor to engage in sexually explicit acts on a photo- and video-sharing application. The co-conspirator surreptitiously hacked into that girl’s live-video feed and recorded the sexual acts before sending them to Black.

Between July 2019 and March 2022, Black and the same co-conspirator were members of two additional groups dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children and the sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). In January 2021, Black sent CSAM of a minor to one of the groups.

Black’s electronic devices were found to contain approximately 172,707 images of suspected CSAM. Of those files, over 1,300 depicted identified victims of his conduct.

Black was formerly the Arlington Aquatic Club (AAC) board president.

Black pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to produce child pornography and coercion and enticement of a minor.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia; Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Shimon Richmond of the FDIC Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) made the announcement.

The FBI and FDIC-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys McKenzie Hightower, Kaylynn Foulon, and James E. Burke IV of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Halper for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted the case.

This case was 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 Justice Department. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.