Skip to main content
April 20, 2023Washington, DC, United StatesChild Exploitation

HSI Washington, D.C. investigation lands Virginia man in federal prison for 19 years for child pornography charges

WASHINGTON — An investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. resulted in a 19-year federal prison sentence, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for Chad Michael Lehofer, 37, of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Lehofer received the lengthy sentence for production and possession of child sexual abuse material.

According to the HSI Washington, D.C. investigation, from at least December 2018 until April 2019, Lehofer repeatedly engaged in sexually explicit discussions with a minor online and enticed and coerced the minor to produce sexually explicit pictures and videos and send them to him.

“Chad Lehofer is a habitual child sex offender, and no community is safe with him on their streets,” said HSI Washington, D.C. Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon. “He has been convicted of sex crimes against minors in two states, and he is well deserving of the sentence he received. HSI Washington, D.C. will continue our efforts to ensure that there is no refuge for child sexual predators in the Washington, D.C. area. HSI will tirelessly pursue anyone who believes they can engage in such perverse behavior with impunity.”

After the minor tried to break off contact with him, Lehofer pretended to be a different person and continued to communicate with the minor online. He also sent the minor threatening messages and told his victim that if they didn’t send him sexually explicit videos, he would expose them to others — including the minor’s mother and friends.

Lehofer claimed to be watching the minor’s house and would send them messages indicating that he knew where they were; he also indicated that he would be waiting at the minor’s home. In response to these threats, the minor produced a sexually explicit video and sent it to Lehofer.

After obtaining a warrant to search Lehofer’s cell phone, law enforcement officials discovered that his phone contained numerous images and videos of child sexual abuse material involving prepubescent minors. Lehofer was previously convicted in Connecticut in 2006 for state offenses involving his sexual abuse of two minors there.

This investigation was conducted by HSI Washington, D.C. with significant contributions from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division.

This 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. 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.

HSI encourages members of the public to report child exploitation crimes or suspicious activity by calling the HSI Tip Line at 866-347-2423. The tip line is manned 24 hours a day.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Updated: