The Commonwealth of Virginia Office of the Attorney General cited that Jeffrey Michael Lazenby, 32, of Prince Edward County, was sentenced Jan. 9 to five years’ imprisonment with an additional 85 years suspended for using an electronic communications system to solicit a minor.

The Attorney General’s office, in a news release, cited that Lazenby will be required to register as a sex offender in addition to his prison sentence.

A copy of Lazenby’s sentence, provided by the Prince Edward County Commonwealth’s Attorney office, cited that Lazenby will also receive five years of supervised probation following his prison sentence.

According to the release, Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced the sentence after Lazenby was sentenced by Prince Edward County Circuit Court Judge Donald Blessing.

“Another dangerous predator is off our streets thanks to the hard work and collaboration between my team and local law enforcement,” Herring said in the release. “Those who take advantage of children in these disgusting ways must be brought to justice and my office and I will continue working to make sure men like this are placed behind bars.”

According to a past Herald report, Lazenby pleaded guilty in September 2018 to nine counts of using a computer to solicit a minor. “According to Prince Edward County Circuit Court documents, on or about March 29, Jeffrey Lazenby, being over the age of 18, feloniously and unlawfully used a communication system for the purposes of soliciting, with lascivious intent, a person he knew or had reason to believe was a child at least 15 years of age but younger than 18, being at least seven years older than the child to propose, knowingly and intentionally, that such child feel or fondle his or her own genitalia,” the report cited.

According to evidence presented at the plea hearing according to the release, Lazenby was identified by administrators at Quioccasin Middle School in Henrico County in May 2017, where he was a band teacher. The release cited that it was through an anonymous email that Lazenby was identified as the perpetrator of inappropriate contact with a minor.

“Upon notifying law enforcement, investigators interviewed Lazenby, who admitted to communicating with the minor,” the release cited. “Further evidence showed that Lazenby met the minor on an adult sex chat website, initially believing her to be over 18 years old. After moving their chats to Facebook Messenger, the minor revealed that she was actually a 16-year-old living in Pennsylvania. Lazenby acknowledged her age and regularly instructed her to perform sexual acts between March and May 2017.”

This case was investigated by the Henrico County Police Department and Virginia State Police as part of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, along with assistance from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Assistant Attorney General Melissa Chong of the Virginia Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth, with cooperation from the Prince Edward Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.