A Washington, D.C., man pleaded guilty today to advertising child pornography.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu of the District of Columbia and Assistant Director in Charge Timothy R. Slater of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.

Simon Walker, 33, was charged in July 2018 with one count of advertising child pornography and one count of distributing child pornography.

According to admissions made in connection with his plea agreement, Walker was the creator and administrator of online chat groups devoted to the trading of child pornography. In addition to uploading images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, Walker encouraged other members of the groups to distribute child pornography, warning them that they would be removed from the groups if they did not contribute to the online community of offenders. Forensic examination of his electronic devices, pursuant to a federal search warrant executed at his residence in May 2018, uncovered hundreds of videos and images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Walker was arrested by the FBI on July 12, 2018, was ordered detained by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and has remained in custody since that time.

U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols scheduled sentencing for Jan. 23, 2020.

The FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, composed of FBI agents and local, state and federal partners, investigated the case. Trial Attorney Jessica Urban of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jodi Lazarus of the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.