Silver Spring Man Caught Arranging to Have Sex With Child

A Silver Spring man who went to Washington, DC, to pay for sex with a child was sentenced on Jan. 16 to 100 months in prison, according to a news release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to the government’s evidence, on July 19, 2012, John Vanathayan, 42, called a telephone chat line to request a girl between the ages of 6 and 9 for sex. 

The person with whom Vanathayan spoke on the chat line—a prostitute, according to The Gazette—reported Vanathayan's request to the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department. An MPD officer, along with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, began to investigate, according to the FBI's news release.

During the investigation, Vanathayan arranged with the person with whom he'd spoken on the chat line to meet "for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with a child," according to the FBI news release.

According to The Gazette, "Investigators recorded a call between the witness, who is not identified in court papers, and Vanathayan. In that call Vanathayan told the person to 'find a crack head with a little girl,' according to the complaint."

On July 20, 2012, Vanathayan traveled from Silver Spring to a pre-arranged meeting place in DC, and was arrested when he arrived, the FBI's news release reported.

Vanathayan pled guilty in November 2012 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. When he finishes his prison term, he will have 10 years of supervised release, according to the FBI's news statement.

>>>Read more on the websites of The Gazette and the FBI.