ONLEY, VA - The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested a nurse practitioner in Accomack County following a months-long investigation into alleged distribution of child pornography.
According to charging documents obtained by WBOC, the FBI first arrested another suspect in March 2024 on child pornography charges and seized the suspect’s phone. Investigators say they then gained access to the suspect’s “Session” account, an encrypted messaging app the FBI says is frequently used to traffic child pornography.
Through the suspect’s Session account, the FBI says they found communications between the suspect and another account operated by Lucas Fussell, 42, of Onley, Virginia. Fussell and the suspect met on the dating app Grindr in December of 2023, beginning a series of back and forth messages and relationship between the two, according to charging documents.
Fussell, according to investigators, told the other suspect how he evaded detection of his Session account using a VPN to mask his IP address to conceal his identity online. The FBI investigator also alleges Fussell bragged about testicular exams he conducted as a nurse practitioner and described his patient’s genitalia to the other individual.
On June 2nd, Fussell sent a message to the seized phone through his Session account, which an FBI agent then responded to. On June 17th, an FBI agent mimicking the suspect on the seized sent a message “you have anything I can perv to” to Fussell, according to court documents. The FBI alleges Fussell then sent multiple files of child pornography to the seized phone on June 22nd and June 30th.
A warrant was issued on July 2nd, and the FBI arrested Fussell at his Onley home Tuesday, July 16th. Fussell faces one charge of Distribution of Child Pornography.
Fussell was previously listed on Eastern Shore Rural Health's (ESRH) Onley Community Health Center website as a Family Nurse Practitioner who joined ESRH in 2012. As of July 17th, Fussell has since been removed from the Onley Community Health Center site.
The health center says they have since dismissed Fussell and are working with law enforcement. Patients with appointments with Fussell will be contacted to reschedule with other health providers.
CEO of Eastern Shore Rural Health Services, Jeannette Edwards, said in statement, "These criminal charges were a shock to all of us at Eastern Shore Rural Health. All of our staff are required to adhere to the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct, and we condemn any contrary behavior." Edwards went on to say, "We want to reassure our patients, their families, and the community at large that our top priority is the health, safety, and security of all our patients."
On July 19th at a detention hearing, United States District Court Judge ordered Fussell be held pending his trial with prosecutors arguing Fussell was a flight risk, according to court documents.
