Arlington man sentenced to nine years in prison for downloading child sexual abuse material

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - An Arlington man was sentenced today to nine years in prison for receipt of child sexual abuse material.

According to court documents, Patrick Wanamaker, 35, viewed, downloaded, and possessed images and videos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. On Oct. 1, 2025, federal authorities searched Wanamaker's residence and recovered nine electronic devices, eight of which belonged to Wanamaker. On Wanamaker's cellphone and laptop, investigators identified 81 CSAM images, which he had downloaded between December 2015 and October 2023.

A forensic analysis also revealed that Wanamaker had emailed himself Mega links containing CSAM. The Mega links exclusively contained CSAM images and videos, including depictions of the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers. In total, the links included 279 images and 777 videos. Wanamaker accessed these links at various times between January 2022 and October 2023.

The FBI Washington Field Office's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Clement and former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Minghella 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.

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. 1:26-cr-53.