A Fort Belvoir paramedic and firefighter has been charged with four counts related to producing child pornography, according to court documents.
Johnny Soza, of Stafford, was charged Tuesday with production of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, enticement of a minor and transferring obscene material to a minor, authorities said.
Soza’s Fairfax-based attorney told The Washington Examiner on Wednesday that his client intends to plead not guilty to all charges. But Atchuthan Sriskandarajah would not comment further on the matter.
Fort Belvoir officials confirmed that Soza was employed at the base but wouldn’t comment on his charges.
“It’s inappropriate for us to discuss any ongoing investigations,” said Fort Belvoir spokesman Donald Dees. He wouldn’t comment on whether the base is also looking into the accusations against Soza.
Soza was born in 1977 in Nicaragua, according to court documents.
Federal officials accused Soza of engaging in sex offenses related to child pornography from August 2011 through February of this year in court documents, although details on his alleged offenses were scarce. In one instance, officials allege, he produced a live video of a minor performing a sex act, according to court documents. Soza also distributed and received an explicit photo of a minor, according to the documents.
Officials have requested a warrant for Soza’s arrest, but as of Tuesday he had not yet been brought into custody.
Child pornography cases in the Washington area have risen sharply in the past several years, with cases in the Eastern District — where Soza’s case is being prosecuted — increasing nearly fourfold between 1999 and 2009, according to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Across the country, that number increased by 330 percent over the past 10 years, a rise investigators theorize is linked to the proliferation of Internet pornography and officials’ efforts to seek out and prosecute child pornography cases.
