Lucas Allen Fussell, a 43-year-old former nurse practitioner from Onley, Virginia, was sentenced to 87 months in prison for distributing child pornography. The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Fussell pleaded guilty on December 18, 2024, in U.S. District Court to two counts of distribution of child pornography. Judge Rudolph Contreras also ordered Fussell to serve 10 years of supervised release and pay a $20,000 fine.
According to court documents, Fussell used an encrypted messaging application to exchange videos and images showing the sexual exploitation of prepubescent boys with another individual. In these communications, he discussed several male patients, including children, and described measures he took to avoid law enforcement detection.
The investigation began after the FBI obtained a cellphone belonging to the other individual involved. In June 2024, Fussell sent nine videos depicting child sexual exploitation to an undercover officer. He was arrested in July 2024 and has been held in custody since that time.
The FBI Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force led the investigation. The task force includes federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia who investigate cases involving child exploitation and human trafficking. Additional support came from the FBI Norfolk Field Office, Accomack County Sheriff’s Office, Onley Police Department, CEOS’s High Technology Investigative Unit, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
“This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit justice.gov/psc.”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Courtney and Caroline Burrell prosecuted the case along with Trial Attorney James E. Burke IV from the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.
