A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia returned an indictment today charging a Centreville, Virginia man with multiple counts of production of child pornography.

According to the indictment, Kenneth Wayne Burk, 37, among other things, used, employed, and coerced a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing images of that conduct, and he did so on multiple occasions. His arraignment is scheduled on June 8 at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick of the Eastern District of Virginia, Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Fairfax County Chief of Police Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr., made the announcement.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Fairfax County Police Department. Trial Attorney Kyle P. Reynolds of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney D. Russell of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting 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 www.justice.gov/psc.