Michael Nicholas Covey, Sexual Exploitation of a Child, Virginia 2022

A disturbing case of child exploitation has come to light in Newport News, Virginia, with the arrest of a local police officer. Michael Nicholas Covey, a 39-year-old sergeant with the Newport News Police Department, was taken into custody on June 10, 2022, on charges of sexual exploitation of a child.

According to allegations in the indictment, Covey used a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purposes of producing a visual depiction of such conduct. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

The investigation that led to Covey’s arrest began with the discovery of child sexual assault images on a convicted sex offender’s electronic devices in Cincinnati, Ohio. Those images were submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in Alexandria, who determined that the images may have been produced in Newport News.

NCMEC forwarded the information to the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (SOVA ICAC), who, in turn, contacted the FBI. Agents with the FBI were able to identify the child depicted in the images and further investigation led them to Covey.

Covey is charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa McKeel and Peter G. Osyf are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Michael Nicholas Covey, a former law enforcement officer, is now facing serious charges that could result in significant prison time. The case serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting children from exploitation and the need for law enforcement agencies to prioritize these types of investigations.

It remains to be seen how this case will play out in court, but one thing is certain: the alleged actions of Michael Covey have caused harm to a child and have eroded trust in the very institution that is supposed to protect us.

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