CHRISTIANSTED — A child’s steel pan instructor was sentenced to 15 years in prison for making child pornography, authorities said.
Dante Edison James, 28, of St. Croix, was given 180 months for production of child pornography and 84 months for second-degree rape, to run concurrently, followed by 10 years of supervised release, United States Attorney Delia L. Smith said.
In addition, U.S. District Judge Wilma Lewis ordered James to pay a $100 special assessment and fined him $8,000.
James was found guilty by a federal jury on July 12, 2024.
VIPD mug shot of Dante Edison James, 28, of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
According to evidence presented at trial, between January 1, 2021, and August 23, 2022, James engaged in sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old minor.
James produced a video recording of the sexual act with the minor with the use of an electronic device that was shipped in interstate and foreign commerce.
The minor victim learned of the recording after James sent it to her via Snapchat.
Though the victim asked James to delete the video, it was subsequently posted on social media.
“Sexual abuse impacts our entire community and exposes its victims to a lifetime of trauma,” U.S. Attorney Smith said. “It is particularly heinous when sexual predators exploit our young children. We remain committed to fully seeking justice for victims of child exploitation and sexual abuse by prosecuting
sex offenders of the law in hopes of creating a safe community for our children.”
“The defendant’s sexual abuse was also an abuse of trust”, Homeland Security Investigations Assistant Special Agent in Charge Eugene Thomas said. As the victim’s former steel pan instructor, James abused her trust to be a role model and a leader. HSI will continue to work with the Virgin Islands Police Department to ensure that predators who prey on minors in our community are convicted of their crimes.”
This case was investigated by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD). It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rhonda Williams-Henry and Everard Potter.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.
