Lead singer gets time in ‘sexting’ case

A Virginia Beach punk rock singer will spend a year in prison after receiving a text message containing a nude image of a 16-year-old Louisa County girl, authorities said.

Christopher A. Atkinson, lead singer of the band Celebrity Gunfight, pleaded guilty today in Louisa Circuit Court to soliciting child pornography, said Louisa Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Rusty McGuire.

A judge today sentenced Atkinson, 24, to three years in prison, but suspended two years.

Authorities said Atkinson met the girl when she went to see his band perform last year, and that the two had been in touch for about three months when Atkinson asked her to text him nude pictures of herself.

The girl used a cell phone to send him such a picture on Sept. 3, McGuire said.