Local middle school volunteer convicted of producing child pornography

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A volunteer with the music program at Grace E. Metz Middle School in Manassas was convicted Thursday by a federal jury on four counts of production of child pornography, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, receipt of child pornography and distribution of child pornography, following an investigation by the Manassas City Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The Herndon Police Department and the Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force assisted with the investigation.

On June, 16, the Manassas City Police Department arrested David Alexander Battle II, 24, after law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence and discovered evidence of child pornography, including two gigabytes of videos that appeared to be child pornography involving infants. Other evidence found at Battle’s residence included child pornography primarily of young boys and girls.

Battle was initially charged Aug. 6, and on Feb. 11, was charged by superseding indictment. According to court records and evidence at trial, an Internet Protocol address linked to Battle was used to share child sexual exploitation via webcam on a chat website in April 2015. Battle also posed as a minor girl on another chat platform and chatted with minor boys, coercing and enticing them to send him sexually explicit images of themselves, according to evidence presented at trial.  The evidence demonstrated the defendant personally knew two of the boys he chatted with on this platform.

Battle faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison when sentenced in June.

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.