STERLING, Va. — A 28-year-old Maryland man faces Virginia state felony charges after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered child sexual abuse material and bestiality imagery on his cell phone during a secondary examination at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority Police officers arrested Matthew Hunter Stewart of Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, on one count of possession, reproduction, distribution, solicitation, and facilitation of child pornography and one count of possession of bestiality. Stewart had arrived on a flight from Keflavik, Iceland, when CBP officers referred him to a secondary examination.
“Customs and Border Protection officers are committed to working with our partners to identify travelers in possession of child sexual abuse materials and hold them accountable for perpetuating this reprehensible victimization of children,” said Christine Waugh, CBP Area Port Director of Washington, D.C.
During the secondary inspection, CBP officers searched Stewart’s electronic devices — a cell phone and an e-reader — and found child sexual abuse material and bestiality materials on the cell phone. Officers turned Stewart over to MWAA Police for arrest and processing on the Virginia felony charges.
CBP’s Office of Field Operations screens international travelers and cargo at ports of entry, searching for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products. Criminal charges are merely accusations; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Stewart’s case will proceed through the Virginia state court system, where he faces arraignment on both felony counts.