Eastern District of Virginia | Former Air Force contract cryptologist pleads guilty to distributing child sexual abuse material

NORFOLK, Va. – A Virginia Beach man pleaded guilty today to distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to court documents, Lawson Heath Wright, 51, was working at Langley Air Force Base as a contracted cryptologist in 2023 when he distributed CSAM images of young children engaging in sexual behavior. Wright posed as an 18-year-old Ukrainian refugee named Lara Urbaszewski and claimed to have a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old man. Wright posed as Urbaszewski several times and used an email account to send CSAM to users.

On January 24, 2024, Virginia Beach Police (VBPD) executed a state search warrant for the email account, and on April 2, 2024, VBPD, in conjunction with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, executed a state search warrant. on Wright’s vehicle and home. Investigators seized several electronic devices, including a cell phone, an external hard drive, laptops and a micro SD. CSAM was found on each of these devices. Some of the CSAM on Wright’s devices depicts sadistic or masochistic behavior or other depictions of violence or sexually explicit images involving an infant or toddler.

Wright is expected to be sentenced on February 11, 2025. He faces a prison sentence of a minimum of five years and a maximum of twenty years. The actual penalties for federal crimes are generally lower than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Jessica D. Aber, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Derek W. Gordon, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, DC; and Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Elizabeth W. Hanes accepted the plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Taylor is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 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 uses federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children online, and to identify and to save. victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

A copy of this press release can be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching Case No. 2:24-cr-86.