WASHINGTON — Victor Renato Blythe, 61, a former child psychotherapist who worked in the Psychiatry Department at Children’s National Medical Center, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for distributing and possessing 300 videos and 23,000 still images of child sexual abuse material, including images depicting the abuse of infants and toddlers, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced.
“Victor Blythe spent years hiding behind his credentials as a psychotherapist to gain the trust of vulnerable children, all while secretly collecting and trading the most exploitative images imaginable,” Pirro said. “He didn’t just collect thousands of images of children being sexually abused; he encouraged others to exploit children. No sentence can undo the harm he caused, but this one ensures he is held accountable. We will continue to pursue anyone who preys on children with every tool we have.”
Blythe was found guilty on May 22, 2026, before Judge Dabney L. Friedrich during a stipulated trial on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography. Federal prosecutors had requested a 188-month sentence. Judge Friedrich ordered Blythe to serve a lifetime of supervised release, register as a sex offender, and pay $71,000 in restitution.
Court documents show Blythe began collecting child sexual abuse material in 2000 and for approximately six years traded it with multiple individuals, including a person later arrested for child sexual abuse. Blythe advised that individual on how to groom children. When the person told Blythe he was video-chatting with a 14-year-old for the purpose of sexual abuse and feared he had made the child uneasy, Blythe responded, “Keep chatting with him. He will get comfortable with you video chatting once again.” Blythe also communicated with a minor via Skype and directed the child to engage in sexual acts. When the child said he was 15 years old, Blythe responded, “So?? That’s HOT!!” When the child stated “its illegal,” Blythe replied, “not for me…” and sent the child a picture of his genitals.
In 2023, Blythe met in person with a minor child in the D.C. area and offered to conduct therapy sessions with him, during which he asked the child about his sexuality and discussed his own. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force with assistance from the Fairfax County Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Bohlen.
In a separate federal case announced the same day, Clinton John Gray, 48, of Joplin, Mo., was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 200 months in federal prison without parole for receiving and distributing child pornography. Gray, who pleaded guilty on Sept. 22, 2025, used social media to solicit sexually explicit images from minors and sent pictures of his genitals to an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old girl on Facebook. A forensic search of Gray’s phone turned up 1,200 image files and 44 video files of child sexual abuse material. Gray was ordered to pay $9,000 in restitution and to register as a sex offender. Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force, and the Joplin Police Department.
Both cases were brought under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, established in May 2006 to marshal federal, state, and local resources against child sexual exploitation. Blythe faces lifetime supervised release upon completion of his prison term.