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Loudoun County resident Max Christian Frear, 35, of Round Hill, has been convicted on charges of receipt of child pornography and attempted destruction of evidence following an investigation into his years-long exchange of illicit materials over the Internet.
According to federal prosecutors, between November 2019 and January 2022, Frear used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to receive child pornography, some of which depicted infants and toddlers.
When the FBI executed a search warrant at Frear’s Round Hill home, officials say that they found a damaged computer storage device in his toilet that had been severely damaged.
The investigation determined that Frear attempted to destroy the suspect device by dunking it in liquid for his 3D printer, breaking it in half, and attempting to flush it down the toilet.
His attempts to cover his tracks were unsuccessful.
Officials said that the FBI was able to recover and examine the hard drive, which contained a total of 84 videos and more than 5,600 images depicting child sexual abuse, including many prepubescent victims.
When he is sentenced in May, Max Frear, who is listed as the CEO and Analog Media Preservationist at Max Media, according to LinkedIn, will face a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
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