D.C. Child Psychotherapist Charged with Distributing Child Pornography

Source: US FBI

           WASHINGTON – Victor Renato Blythe, 60, of the District of Columbia, has been charged by federal complaint with allegedly distributing and possessing child pornography to another individual, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

           Blythe is employed as a psychotherapist and specializes in working with children and adolescents. Blythe previously was employed in the Psychiatry Department at Children’s National Medical Center.

           According to the complaint, Blythe is alleged to have communicated with another individual regarding his interest in the sexual abuse of children. During the course of those communications, Blythe is alleged to have distributed child pornography to that other individual. Blythe is also alleged to have possessed additional videos depicting child pornography on his electronic devices.

           The case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department with the assistance of the Fairfax County Police Department. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

           Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI at tips@fbi.gov.

           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 the Criminal Division’s 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.            

           A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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