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Commonwealth's Attorney

Posted on: March 15, 2016

Kessel Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Child at Sterling In-Home Daycare

Kessel, Michael.jpg

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 15, 2016

Contact: Heather F. Williamson
Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office
20 East Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176-2809
(703) 777-0242


KESSEL PLEADS GUILTY TO SEXUALLY ASSAULTING CHILD AT STERLING IN-HOME DAYCARE

SENTENCING SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 30, 2016

LEESBURG, Virginia – March 14, 2016. Michael Dylan Kessel, 22, appeared before Judge Stephen E. Sincavage in Loudoun County Circuit Court and plead guilty to one count of taking indecent liberties with children.

In early June 2015, law enforcement was contacted by a family who believed that their child may have had inappropriate contact with a resident inside an in-home daycare in Sterling, Virginia.

Investigation by Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with Loudoun Child Protective Services determined that Kessel was not the primary caregiver at daycare. Kessel’s mother ran the daycare, but Kessel did occasionally oversee the children during the course of the day.

Sheriff’s Detectives arranged for a controlled phone call between the victim’s mother and Kessel. During the hour long call Kessel admitted to inappropriately touching the victim, saying “I’m extremely sorry,” and asking the victim’s mother if she was going to take the matter to the police because he was “worried about himself.”

Kessel was removed from the home through a safety plan from Loudoun Child Protective Services.

A search warrant was subsequently executed at Kessel’s residence where law enforcement seized a number of electronic devices containing images of children sleeping in the same bed as Kessel, along with various web searches related to child pornography.

Arrest warrants were obtained for Kessel on September 29, 2015. Kessel was located the same day at a relative’s home in Marion County, Florida where he had been living for several months.
Kessel was extradited back to Virginia.

Kessel is currently being held without bond in the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center where he awaits his final sentencing hearing on June 30, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. in Loudoun Circuit Court.

Kessel faces up to ten years in prison.

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