Attorney General Miyares Announces 25-Year Sentence for Repeat Child Predator

RICHMOND, Va. — Attorney General Jason Miyares has announced that Daniel Ebinger, 28, of Middlesex County, was sentenced to 25 years of active incarceration for two counts of Use of a Communications System to Solicit a Minor. The sentence was handed down by the Middlesex County Circuit Court. This new sentence will run consecutively to a 7-year sentence Ebinger received in 2022 for Possession of Child Pornography and Use of a Communications System to Solicit a Minor. 

“I’m proud of the work by my office and our law enforcement partners in securing a strong sentence that delivers justice for the victims and protects other children from this repeat child predator,” said Attorney General Jason Miyares. 

In September 2022, a New York woman alerted authorities at Haynesville Correctional Center, where Ebinger was serving his original sentence, that he had been sending love letters and making phone calls to her 13-year-old daughter. A subsequent investigation found that Ebinger had communicated with at least two minors while incarcerated. 

Ebinger later admitted to engaging in communications with the minor in New York via social media between 2020 and his incarceration in 2022. During these exchanges, Ebinger solicited sexually explicit content and proposed sexual activity with the minor. 

A search warrant conducted on Ebinger’s residence led to the recovery of a cell phone containing corroborating evidence of these unlawful communications. A forensic analysis of the device and his social media accounts further confirmed the offenses. 

Upon release, Ebinger will be required to register as a sex offender, complete sex offender treatment, have no contact with minors, and is prohibited from using the Internet unless approved and monitored by his probation officer. 

The case was investigated by the Virginia Department of Corrections, the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, and Attorney General Miyares’ Computer Crimes Section. Assistant Attorney General Cynthia Paoletta prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth. 

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