Las Vegas, Nevada - Following a three-day trial, Lonny Joseph DiTirro Jr. was found guilty of sexually exploiting children by producing child pornography and possessing hundreds of images and videos of child pornography, including infants and toddlers, announced U.S. Attorney Dayle Elieson for the District of Nevada.

A jury convicted DiTirro, 36, of Las Vegas, of four counts of sexual exploitation of children by producing child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. United States District Judge Kent J. Dawson presided over the jury trial and scheduled sentencing for February 6, 2019.

According to evidence presented at trial, on September 10, 2015, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Officers received a concerned citizen’s report of possible child exploitation. The responding officers conducted an interview with the concerned citizen who stated she found a SD card belonging to DiTirro that contained child pornography. Law enforcement later executed a search warrant on the SD card. A forensic examination of the SD card revealed 254 images and 42 videos of child pornography, depicting infants, toddlers, and sadomasochism/violence.

The SD Card also contained over 50 folders bearing the names and ages of minor females that contained nude photos and videos of the minors. Law enforcement identified several victims who all testified that they met DiTirro on a social media/dating application called MeetMe when they were under the age of 16. The victims further testified that DiTirro lied to the victims about his age, claiming he was a teenager or in his 20s, and went as far as falsifying his birth certificate in an effort to coerce, entice, and induce the victims into various sexual activities. Evidence presented at trial showed that DiTirro recorded sex acts with the minor victims, and that he created screenshots of sexually explicit Skype video chats of the victims. DiTirro catalogued these videos and screenshots on the SD Card.

The maximum possible statutory penalty is 140 years imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elham Roohani and Christopher Burton are prosecuting the case.

Investigation concerning other potential victims in this case is ongoing. If you have information about DiTirro or believe you or someone you know may have been a victim, you are encouraged to contact the nearest FBI field office, local law enforcement, or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline at www.cybertipline.org.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.