School volunteer sentenced to 25 years for producing child pornography

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former volunteer with the music program at Grace E. Metz Middle School in Manassas was sentenced Friday to 300 months in prison for a multitude of child exploitation charges, including production of child pornography, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, receipt of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Manassas City Police Department with assistance from the Herndon Police Department and the Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

David Alexander Battle II, 24, was charged by superseding indictment Feb. 11, and a federal jury convicted him of the charges March 10.

According to court records and evidence at trial, an Internet Protocol address linked to Battle was used to share a sexually explicit video involving a child 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. The evidence demonstrated the defendant personally knew two of the boys he chatted with on this platform. Trial evidence also showed Battle's laptop contained gigabytes of child sexual exploitation files.

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 14,000 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 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

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. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

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