Falls Church man sentenced to 6 years for receiving, possessing more than 10,000 child pornography files

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Falls Church man was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for receiving and possessing thousands of child pornography files he downloaded from online networks. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Ralph Freeman, 54, of Falls Church, was found guilty Jan. 2, following a bench trial that concluded in November 2014. According to court documents, Freeman used the eDonkey peer-to-peer network and Usenet Newsgroup to download child pornography. Law enforcement found more than 2,900 still-image files and 180 video files of suspected child pornography on a desktop computer and more than 9,000 images on an external hard drive at Freeman’s residence. Freeman viewed, accessed, received and downloaded child pornography files between 2005 and 2013.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.