News

BREAKING: Former swim club board president pleads guilty to sexually exploiting children

By ARLnow.com
Mark Black (courtesy Alexandria Sheriff’s Office)

A former board president of the Arlington Aquatic Club pled guilty today to conspiring to sexually exploit several children.

Mark Black, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of coercion and enticement one month before he was set to go to trial in federal court on Feb. 27, according to a press release from the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

He is set to be sentenced on April 30 and faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.

From January 2018 to October 2021, Black was part of two groups that found prepubescent girls online and convinced them to livestream themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct, the release says. Black and his co-conspirators would secretly record so they could share the videos with each other.

Last November, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Black with six counts of creating, advertising, distributing and receiving child pornography between 2018 and 2023.

Black was one board president of AAC, an elite swimming program notable for producing a Tokyo Olympian two summers ago, and also worked as a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attorney.

More, below, from the Justice Department press release.

A Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attorney pleaded guilty today to conspiring to sexually exploit numerous children.

According to court documents, between January 2018 and October 2021, Mark Black, 50, of Arlington, was a member of two online groups dedicated to exploiting children. The goal of the two groups was to locate prepubescent girls online and convince them to livestream themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Black and his co-conspirators would covertly record this conduct and share the videos with each other.

In July 2019, Black induced a prepubescent minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct on a live-streaming application while screen-recording that activity. That same month, Black and a co-conspirator also groomed another prepubescent minor to engage in sexually explicit acts on a photo and video-sharing application. The co-conspirator surreptitiously hacked into this girl’s live-video feed and recorded the sexual acts before sending them to Black.

Black was formerly the Arlington Aquatic Club (AAC) board president.

Black pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of coercion and enticement. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30 and faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Nicole M. Argentieri, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Michael D. Nordwall, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Shimon Richmond, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations of the FDIC Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted the plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Halper and Trial Attorneys McKenzie Hightower, Kaylynn Foulon, and James E. Burke IV of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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 www.justice.gov/psc. […]

Any individuals who believe they or someone they know may have been victimized by Black are encouraged to contact the FBI at 202-278-2000 and ask to speak to the Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.

News

BREAKING: Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey to retire at the end of year

By Jo DeVoe
Arlington County Board Vice-Chair Libby Garvey speaks at a press conference in 2023 (courtesy photo)

Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey is retiring at the end of her term in 2024.

She announced her decision near the top of a County Board meeting today (Tuesday).

“When my term ends in December, it will be 28 years of elected public service and about 17 primaries and general campaigns,” she said. “I’m loving this work. I love working with the staff, my colleagues and the residents. I mean, that’s the best part of this job, in many ways, but at this point, both my head and my heart are telling me it’s time I passed the baton.”

Garvey was first elected to the County Board in 2012, after previously serving on the Arlington School Board.

Continuing the relay analogy, Garvey says she intends “to sprint to the finish” and looks forward to accomplishing more for Arlington in the next 11 months, including leading the newly unveiled 2050 visioning process — a sweeping public engagement opportunity to envision what the county should look like in 26 years — and making Arlington more energy resilient.

“There will be time for more proper thank-yous and acknowledgments in the future,” she added in a statement to people who subscribe to her monthly newsletter, issued shortly after her announcement. “Please know that my friends and supporters have made it possible for me to do this work, which I love. And I look forward, as always, to your thoughts and suggestions as I continue to work for Arlington throughout this year.”

The acknowledgements have already started, however.

“We would like to thank Libby Garvey for her years of service on the County Board,” the Arlington County Democratic Committee said, in a statement posted on social media. “We know she’ll keep working for Arlington the rest of her term and beyond.”

So far, there are three candidates who have stepped up to fill her place, all vying to be the Democratic nominee selected in a primary this June.

Natalie Roy, who made her debut last election cycle on an anti-Missing Middle platform and received an endorsement from Garvey, is running for the second time. First-time candidate Julie Farnam, an Arlington Ridge Civic Association board member, is campaigning on improving public safety and taking what she calls a “smart” approach to planning and growth.

James DeVita, who ran for State Senate last election cycle, has also thrown his hat into the ring, according to Virginia Public Access Project.

Garvey’s decision follows that of fellow former County Board colleagues Christian Dorsey and Katie Cristol, who both announced last year they would not seek re-election. Cristol made her exit before her term ended while Dorsey saw out the end of his term.

News

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Schools

Arlington students are now eligible for free Metrobus rides

By Savannah Taffe
An ART bus and driver (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 3:20 p.m.) Starting this month, Arlington students can now get free Metrobus rides throughout Arlington.

This builds on a program in place since 2022 allowing students with iRide SmarTrip card to ride Arlington Transit (ART) buses for free. Students who live in Arlington and are enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade can obtain these cards from Commuter Stores in Arlington or, if they are APS students, through their schools.

Now, students with these cards will have free access to Metrobus’ greater range of service and hours, per a county press release. They will be able to travel to destinations that ART routes do not reach, including some schools, such as Swanson Middle School.

“APS is excited about the expansion of the Student iRide Fare Free Program to include Metrobus service within Arlington,” APS Director of Facilities and Operations Cathy Lin said in a statement. “This opportunity expands access for our students to travel in Arlington on public transit buses.”

The new program also responds to an increase in student ridership that the county ties to free ART travel for students. Arlington County reported that student ridership increased from 61,060 riders between January and September 2022 to 108,365 during the same period in 2023.

“We are encouraged to see that student ridership on ART bus has increased since the rollout of the student fare free program in 2022,” Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Claudia Pors told ARLnow. “Our hope is that by expanding iRide to Metrobus, more young people will become comfortable and familiar using public transportation to get around Arlington safely and sustainably.”

Pors says there are currently no plans to expand the program to include Metrorail. Students can still access the Metro with an iRide SmarTrip card but they will have to pay the full fare amount.

The Arlington County Board approved the agreement with WMATA and the county in July 2023, the county press release says. The county allocated $360,000 in the 2024 fiscal year budget to reimburse Metrobus for the student rides.

Arlington County has taken other steps to make bus rides fare-free, including its free rush hour service on ART buses. Initially set to expire in December, the program was extended through this month.

Announcement

Find Peace with Food and Your Body with Rock Recovery

By Rock Recovery

Are you looking for affordable and effective therapy to help you heal from body image issues or disordered eating? Rock Recovery is a mental health nonprofit based in Arlington, VA that provides individual and group therapy with specialized eating disorder therapists to help you find peace with food and your body.

Our team is growing, and we are thrilled to welcome therapist Natasia “Tasi” James to the team! Tasi has openings for new clients in both individual therapy sessions and her in-person and virtual therapy groups. Tasi has extensive eating disorder treatment experience, having worked with both adolescents and adults in eating disorder treatment centers previously. You can expect Tasi’s energy to be upbeat, warm, compassionate, and humorous. Her approach is to create a space for clients to feel comfortable and safe, encourage self-exploration to resolve core issues regarding their disordered eating/negative body image, and help clients to evolve in their authenticity.

Go to Find Peace with Food and Your Body with Rock Recovery Read more
Around Town

Chip City Cookies opens in Clarendon

By Madisson Weyrich
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Chip City Cookies has opened its doors in Clarendon.

According to the general manager, the grand opening Friday was successful with folks waiting in the snow to take a peek at the new sweets shop.

“We had a line out the door on Friday while it was snowing,” she said. “It was crazy.”

The Clarendon location at 2700 Clarendon Blvd is the cookie business’s first foray into Virginia, though Chip City is in the midst of a big expansion effort overall in the D.C. area and across the country.

Known for its large, gooey 5.5-ounce cookies, Chip City has a rotating weekly menu of 40 different flavors, including the classics, chocolate chip and triple chocolate, and more inventive flavors, from cannoli to horchata.

There are two dairy-free options: chocolate chip and a rotating flavor.

There’s no shortage of cookies in Arlington. Captain Cookie and the Milkman opened a location in Courthouse earlier this year while Crumbl Cookies is planning to open this spring at the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center. There’s also delivery-only local cookie purveyor MOLTN.

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