Previously convicted child sex offender sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to access child sexual abuse material

NORFOLK, Va. - A Norfolk man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for attempting to access and view child sexual abuse material (CSAM) while on supervised release for a previous conviction.

According to court documents, on Jan. 22, 2010, Jesse Lee Wise, 42, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison followed by a life term of supervised release following a conviction for attempted enticement of a minor. Wise was released from prison on April 18, 2025, and began his term of supervised release, which included the condition that Wise was only permitted to have access to a flip phone and was not permitted access to any computers, smartphones, or other internet-capable devices.

On August 13, 2025, officers of the U.S. Probation Office (USPO) found Wise in possession of two unauthorized smartphones that Wise had used to attempt to access websites involved with CSAM. A forensic analysis of the devices conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) confirmed that Wise entered CSAM related search terms with the intent to view CSAM videos and images.

HSI Washington, D.C., investigated this case with assistance from USPO.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph L. Kosky prosecuted the case.

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 Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.

For more information about HSI's efforts to protect children from sexual predators, visit Know2Protect.gov.

Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District CourtLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 2:25-cr-143.