ONLEY, Va. - A former Accomack County nurse practitioner was sentenced Wednesday for distributing child sexual abuse material.
Lucas Fussell, of Onley, was first arrested in July pf 2024 following an investigation into child pornography distribution. Investigators said they had connected Fussell to the investigation after seizing another suspect’s phone, on which they discovered a series of messages between Fussell and the other suspect on an encrypted messaging app frequently used to traffic child sexual abuse material, according to the FBI.
During the exchanges, investigators say Fussell bragged about testicular exams he had conducted as a nurse practitioner and described his patients’ genitals to the other suspect.
Fussell was previously listed as an employee at the Eastern Shore Rural Health System in Onley.
(WBOC).
In August of 2024, Fussell was formally indicted by a Washington D.C. Grand Jury and initially pleaded not guilty to two charges of child porn distribution. Months later, in December 2024, Fussell reversed course and pleaded guilty to the two counts. Prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice say Fussell pleaded guilty without a plea deal and admitted to sharing images and videos of minor boys engaged in sexual acts.
On Sept. 10, the DOJ announced Fussell had been sentenced to over 87 months in prison followed by ten years of supervision. Prosecutors say he was also ordered to pay $20,000 in fines.
“The defendant, who occupied a position of trust as a nurse practitioner, used an end-to-end encrypted messaging application to disseminate images depicting the abuse of young children and bragged about the effectiveness of the measures that he used to evade law enforcement detection,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “He thought that he could use technology to hide his crimes, but he was wrong. His sentence today should serve as a warning – to those that would harm vulnerable children, we will identify you, prosecute you, and bring you to justice.”