Charlottesville Bodybuilding Coach Sentenced For Child Exploitation

Monday, January 13, 2025, 1:00 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.- On Wednesday, January 8, 2025, Elliott Atwell, 35, of Charlottesville, Virginia, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia and was sentenced by a U.S. District Court Judge to 254 months in federal prison for his previously entered guilty plea to child sexual exploitation and pornography offenses.

     In June 2024, Atwell appeared in District Court and pleaded guilty to one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor; and one count of Possession of Child Pornography in connection with a six-year child exploitation scheme.

According To The U.S. Attorney’s Office

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee and documents filed in the District Court, beginning in December 2013 and lasting through April 2020, Arwell portrayed himself as a virtual bodybuilding coach for high school bodybuilders. During that time, he approached minors online to purportedly mentor them and quickly switched their conversations and alleged bodybuilding training to the topics of sex and sexuality.

     Under the guise of coaching, Atwell would further encourage the children to send nude photographs and videos of themselves to him. Atwell further manipulated at least six minors to record themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct and then send those recordings to him.

     Over the six years, in order to gain the victims’ trust and willingness to participate, Atwell sent them gifts, including a digital camera, and other sexual-related items. Atwell then gave detailed instructions on what sexual acts he wanted the minors to perform and capture on video.

     During the investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched Atwell’s iCloud account and uncovered over 300 digital images and video files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including digital images of prepubescent boys engaged in sex acts.

     “This defendant targeted young people who put their trust in him as a coach and mentor and violated that trust to satisfy his own desires,” said Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee. “I am grateful to the men and women of the FBI who tirelessly investigated this case and brought some semblance of justice to the victims. Cases like these remind us how vulnerable our young people are and how vigilant we must be to protect them from manipulative online predators.”