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Henrico man gets child porn charge after Facebook tips off authorities

Posted at 1:57 PM, Apr 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-03 14:07:25-04

HENRICO, Va. – A Henrico man was arrested March 29 after police found probable cause he engaged in the production of child pornography from his home in the 900 block of Glidewell Road, off E. Parham.

John Lewis Robertson II, age 44, allegedly used three fake Facebook accounts to entice nine male minors to produce and send him child pornography, according to court documents accessed by CBS 6.

Robertson presented himself as an adult female and would request photographs of minor’s genitals. He requested and received 20 separate images from nine minors. The court documents also include detailed conversations which date back to 2015.

Investigators contacted one of the minors, who said he was 14 or 15-year-old at the time he exchanged messages and images with Robertson. The teen told law enforcement that he thought he was talking with an adult female in her early 20s, named Julie Heart.

Robertson, allegedly masquerading as Heart, supplied the teen with graphic images — one of an adult female handling a cucumber.

The teen said he had referred other minors to that account, who also sent “Julie Heart” photographs of their genitals.

Robertson spoke voluntarily with law enforcement during the execution of the search warrant and admitted he used the fake Facebook accounts to get photographs of minors and would then masturbate to the images.

Child pornography, according to the law, means any visual depiction, in any format, of sexually explicit conduct where the production involves engaging a minor in sexually explicit conduct.

The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children received a cybertip from Facebook on May 17, 2016 that the activity had taken place between January 12, 2015 and February 7, 2016. Facebook shared the images and chats, which were reviewed by Henrico County Police detective Elizabeth Wright.

Law enforcement used Facebook records and public source information to track down some of the juveniles. Then using an open source Internet research tool, and Verizon-owned IP addresses, police located the home and matched up phone numbers provided on Facebook accounts.

Robertson could also face state charges in addition to his federal charges. He is currently being held in the Pamunkey Regional Jail.

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