Kotzebue Man Sentenced to 9 Years Imprisonment for Sexually Exploiting Children

Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a Kotzebue, Alaska man was sentenced in Federal Court in Anchorage on two counts of child sexual exploitation crimes. Culum Campbell was convicted of receipt and possession of child pornography. Campbell was using a peer to peer network to traffic child pornography, and had both distributed and received videos of children being sexually exploited.

Campbell, age 33, was sentenced January 23, 2014, by United States District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason, to 9 years on each of the two convictions. Those sentences are to run concurrently to each other. Campbell’s prison terms will be followed by Federal supervised release for 16 years. Judge Gleason described the harm to the victims depicted in the videos as serious offenses. She stated that these crimes are not “just watching videos, they are making a market for this business,” and noted the continuing harm and pain caused to the victims. “When you are one of those viewers, you are dangerous.”

U.S. Attorney Loeffler stated, “The 9 year sentence in this case reflects the victimization perpetrated on innocent victims by Campbell. Working with our law enforcement partners to protect children is a top priority and a constant mission.”

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey J. Renschen, Campbell was under investigation for trafficking in child pornography by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and when a search warrant was executed at Campbell’s home in Kotzebue, 73 videos, including one that was close to an hour long, were found there.

Ms. Loeffler commends the FBI, the Kotzebue Police Department, and the Alaska State Troopers, members of the Alaska Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, for their cooperation and investigation of this case.

This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s ongoing Project Safe Childhood initiative which was launched to increase federal prosecutions of sexual predators of children, and to reduce the number of Internet crimes against children including child pornography trafficking. As a part of PSC, the United States Attorney’s Office has teamed with state and local agencies and organizations to increase law enforcement presence on the Internet, and to educate the public about safe Internet use, thereby reducing the risk that children might fall prey to online sexual predators. For additional information on the PSC initiative, please go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska.