Mark Black, Sexually Exploiting Children, Virginia 2024

A horrific crime has shaken the community in Arlington, Virginia, as a former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attorney has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring to sexually exploit numerous children.

Mark Black, 50, was found guilty of conspiring to produce child pornography and coerce a minor. This despicable act took place from January 2018 to October 2021.

According to court documents, Black was a member of two online groups dedicated to locating prepubescent girls online and convincing them to livestream themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Black and his co-conspirators covertly recorded these livestreams and shared the videos with each other.

In July 2019, Black induced a prepubescent minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct on a live-streaming application while screen-recording that activity. That same month, Black and a co-conspirator also groomed another prepubescent minor to engage in sexually explicit acts on a photo- and video-sharing application.

The investigation revealed that between July 2019 and March 2022, Black and the co-conspirator were members of two additional groups dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children and the sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). In January 2021, Black sent CSAM of a minor to one of the groups.

Black’s electronic devices were found to contain approximately 172,707 images of suspected CSAM. Of those files, over 1,300 depicted identified victims of his conduct.

Black, who was formerly the Arlington Aquatic Club (AAC) board president, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to produce child pornography and coercion and enticement of a minor.

The investigation was led by the FBI Washington Field Office and FDIC Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG). Trial Attorneys McKenzie Hightower, Kaylynn Foulon, and James E. Burke IV of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Halper for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted the case.

This case was 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 Justice Department. The mission of Project Safe Childhood is to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

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