NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – An Arizona man who had previously been stationed in Newport News pleaded guilty Tuesday to production of child sexual abuse material. Senior U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accepted the plea.

According to court documents, from summer 2021 through March 2022, Elliott Velez, 38, of Surprise, Arizona, who is an active duty serviceman that was stationed in Newport News at the time of the incident, used social media platforms to engage in sexually graphic conversations with girls under the age of 18.

He then instructed them to engage in sexually-explicit conduct, take photos or videos and send them to him, according to court documents.

Velez would give explicit instructions on what he wanted them to do, how he wanted them to do it, court documents state, and who he wanted them to do it with, including other underage people.

He used a recording device on his phone to make sure he could keep the videos and images without the victim’s knowledge

Velez would use a recording device on his phone to ensure that he could keep these videos and images without the victim’s knowledge. Velez is an active duty servicemember who was located in Newport News during the time of his conduct.

Velez is scheduled to be sentenced March 22, 2023. He faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison per count, not necessarily consecutively.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Heath has been prosecuting the case, which came 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.