Fussell pleads guilty to distributing child pornography

By Linda Cicoira

Lucas Allen Fussell, the nurse practitioner who was fired from his job at Eastern Shore Rural Health after FBI agents stormed his home and charged him with distributing child pornography last July, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in D.C. to two counts of sharing images and video files that depicted prepubescent boys being sexually abused by adult men.

Judge Rudolph Contreras scheduled sentencing for May 6, 2025. A probation officer was ordered to disclose a draft pre-sentence report no later than March 17. The defense was given until March 31 to make any objections to the draft. The deadline for the final report was set for April 7.

The mandatory minimum sentence for each offense is five years in prison. The maximum is 20 years and a fine of no more than $250,000.

There was no plea bargain. Written arguments from the defense and the prosecution were also submitted to the court this week regarding differing opinions about sentencing guidelines.

The defense estimated Fussell’s punishment in the range of 78 to 97 months in prison, or six years and six months to just over eight years.

The prosecution called for Fussell to be sentenced to 210 to 262 months or 17.5 years to nearly 22 years and a fine of between $40,000 and $250,000.

Both sides mentioned that the offense involved five incidents of 600 or more images. The prosecution noted five plus characteristics of “distribution in exchange for (a) valuable contribution.”

A document filed with the court Wednesday includes a proffer in which the 42-year-old Coastal Boulevard man writes in the first person while admitting his crimes.

“On June 2 … using a silver Google cell phone, I used Session, an end-to-end encrypted mobile messaging application, to contact … another adult man with whom I had previously corresponded on Session and also met in person at my home in Onley,” wrote Fussell.

“I have since learned that the FBI had come into possession of” the other man’s “cellphone. I now know when I messaged, … it was being operated by an FBI online covert employee …,” Fussell continued.

On June 17, the agent “responded and asked for child pornography,” according to the court document. Fussell said, thinking he was talking to the other suspect, he “sent six media files that I knew to be visual depictions of minor boys engaging in sexual acts.” His message to the other suspect also stated, “Cool. Send me some of you perving to it.”

The files Fussell sent included four images and two videos.

On June 30, Fussell wrote that he sent “three additional media files that I knew depicted prepubescent minor boys being raped by adult men … I knew that they were visual depictions of minor boys, most of whom were prepubescent and at least one of whom was a toddler.”

Fussell began working for Rural Health in 2012. His own company, Compassion in Care MMC LLC, was headquartered at his house, records on the Virginia State Corporation Commission website stated. That business was started about two years ago.