From left, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Keim, Assistant U.S. Attorney April Russo, Detective John Bamford, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Bradsher, and Criminal Chief Seth Schlessinger.
Arlington County Police Department Detective John Bamford received a Hometown Hero Award from the U.S. Department of Justice on May 22 for his recent efforts resulting in the identification and takedown of a notorious cybercriminal forum in South Africa. Its administrators, who were arrested, sold thousands of illicit images in the United States and elsewhere. The investigation recovered approximately 10 million images of sexually explicit material depicting minors from electronic devices.
The Hometown Hero Award is sponsored by the Department of Justice in honor of the United States of America’s 250th year of celebrating its independence.
“This award recognizes one of the law enforcement officers who best embodies the spirit upon which our Nation was founded and reflects a steadfast commitment to the enduring ideals of liberty, service and civic responsibility.” Detective Bamford’s efforts have resulted in the identification and rescue of hundreds of child and adult victims of illicit images.
Bamford says the best part of the day was when his three kids got to see it. “To see their pride means everything. They think I do something important and I’m not just a guy talking on the phone.”
Bamford now works as an ACPD detective and is concurrently serving as an FBI Task Force officer with the Washington D.C. Field Office.
“The most difficult thing about the Task Force work is the difference between my job on the ACPD with a lot of day to day interaction and the FBI work which is mostly on the phone. “Jumping over to the Federal side, it doesn’t exist in the same way. Since a lot of my work is on the phone, I am rarely face to face so I have to keep myself grounded to keep the victim first and the bad guy second and protect the community.”
Bamford says he always knew he wanted to be in law enforcement. “My grandmother was one of three female cops in the history of Lowell, Massachusetts.” In addition, his father is in the FBI, and his two little brothers are a Boston cop and FBI.
“I was in law school in 2006 waiting tables and attending school at night. One day in 2008 I was talking to mom, and she saw that the ACPD was advertising for police. So I took the test, and they hired me and I worked for ACPD in 2008-2010 while I was finishing law school.”
Different in Northern Virginia?
“I do think we live in a cocoon in Northern Virginia. This results in some blinding. We have sextortion victims all through Northern Virginia regardless of class. It is not a geographically based problem. Every middle school and high school has these issues. Blackmail of nonconsensual images or sextortion is so common because we all have cellular phones. It doesn’t matter who you are. It’s so easy to find a message platform where there is no visibility to catch these guys.
“My kids are the same age as these victims.” Bamford says he knows it’s important for your kids to know they can come to you. “Sextortion can be psychologically and emotionally damaging.” Bamford says he gives every victim his cell phone and tells them they can call him day or night. “Sometimes they just call to tell me they got a pizza last night. It’s not important; they just need to know they have a contact.
“The perpetrators do this all day and have perfected the craft of manipulation. They prey on the insecurity of kids and the desire to be complimented. It can start very benign. ‘Young lady, would you be interested in modeling? I could pay you for it.’
“It goes on. ‘Would you like to model in a swimming suit?’ Then ‘in your underwear?’ As it progresses, some victims say ‘This is too far.’ But the victim couldn’t have understood what was happening and needed help to get out.”
But then Bamford says the blackmail begins to keep the girls, or sometimes boys, providing the pictures. “We will send the pictures to your family or your boyfriend.” Bamford says the perpetrator’s threats to release the photos causes the victims to do anything in the moment. “They are afraid this will ruin their lives.”
Bamford says the motives of the suspect can range from keeping the pictures for personal pleasure, using them to trade with others for similar content of different victims or to further victimize through subsequent extortions.
Ashley Savage, ACPD Communications Manager, says the Arlington statistics on Extortion/Blackmail which includes Sextortion have been climbing in recent years. But the number for 2025 decreased.
Extortion/Blackmail
Number of Cases
2023 95
2024 159
2024 84