A 67-year-old Fairfax Station man was sentenced last week to more than four years in federal prison. The punishment followed George Ronald Marion’s conviction for crossing state lines to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, plus possession of child pornography.

According to the government’s evidence, between Nov. 28 and Dec. 8 of 2012, Marion communicated online, by text message and by telephone with an individual regarding Marion’s interest in having sex with an underage girl. Marion and the individual planned to meet Dec. 8, 2012, to engage in such sexual activity.

However, the person with whom Marion had been in contact was actually acting under law-enforcement supervision, working with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. So when Marion traveled from Virginia to the prearranged meeting location in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8, 2012, he was apprehended.

Following Marion’s arrest, law-enforcement personnel conducted a search of his home. There, they discovered and seized approximately seven videos and 16 images of child pornography on his computer and electronic storage devices.

This case was brought forward as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative created in February 2006 to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. It was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassidy Kesler Pinegar prosecuted the case.

A retired Army officer, Marion pleaded guilty to the charges against him in February in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He returned for sentencing last Thursday, July 25, by U.S. District Court Judge Ellen S. Huvelle.

Besides incarcerating him for four years and two months, she also ordered Marion to pay a $3,000 fine. Upon completion of his prison term, he’ll be on 10 years supervised release. During that time, he must abide by a number of conditions, including registering as a sex offender, obtaining sex-offender treatment and adhering to strict limits on his computer/Internet usage and contact with minors.