WASHINGTON – According to the U.S. Department of Justice Matthew Norman Ballek, 32, of Saskatchewan, pleaded guilty Friday to a federal child pornography charge stemming from his distribution of child pornography to an undercover law enforcement agent in January 2024.
Ballek has been in custody since his Feb. 7 arrest. He now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The announcement concerning the man originally from Outlook came from U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves; FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist, of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division; and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Earlier this year, a plea deal was offered to the accused, an employee of the World Bank. He remained in custody, as the U.S. Attorney’s office described Ballek as a serious flight risk because he is a Canadian citizen in the U.S. on a G4 work visa with no family or other ties to the United States.
According to Ballek’s LinkedIn at the time of his arrest, he had been living in Washington, D.C., working as a financial risk specialist for The World Bank for two years. His LinkedIn also stated he worked for the Bank of Canada for five years as a senior financial specialist and was a program manager in LGBT capital markets to “empower LGBT+ talent.”
According to his social media, he is originally from Outlook, Sask.
Ballek pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of possession of child pornography. The Honorable Reggie B. Walton scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 21, 2025.
According to plea documents, says the DOJ, in January 2024, a member of the FBI–MPD Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force was monitoring an online dating application in an undercover capacity. Law enforcement has learned that the application is sometimes used by individuals who have a sexual interest in children.
Ballek contacted the undercover agent and, believing he was communicating with a pedophile, expressed an interest in child pornography. Ballek later sent the undercover agent three video files via an encrypted messaging application. Those video files depicted adult men raping toddler and prepubescent boys. Ballek was arrested in the District of Columbia on Feb. 7. The FBI seized and forensically examined Ballek’s phone, which contained 10 unique videos and at least 21 unique still images that constitute child pornography.
In addition, a custodial sentence, Ballek must pay mandatory restitution of at least $3,000 to any identified victim. The statutory sentences for federal offenses are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, the DOJ cautioned in its media release, underlining that any sentence will be determined by the Court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
In addition, Ballek will be required to register as a sex offender and be subject to deportation proceedings and other adverse immigration consequences following any prison term.
The DOJ say this case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s 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.
This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and MPD’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.
-With files from Lisa Joy
