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Press Release

Fairbanks Man Sentenced For Child Pornography Crimes

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Alaska

Fairbanks, Alaska – United States Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that Michael Gray, Jr., 35, resident of Fairbanks, Alaska, was sentenced on Friday, July 29, 2016, by United States District Judge Ralph R. Beistline to 77 months in prison, to be followed by a 15-year term of supervised release, for possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). 

According to documents filed in the case, on June 26 and 29, 2015, law enforcement identified the defendant’s computer using an Internet file-sharing network to distribute files of child pornography.  The videos being shared by the defendant through the file-sharing network were between three and 20 minutes long, and showed prepubescent females between the ages of eight and 12 being sexually molested by adult males.  In three of the videos, there are scenes of sadistic and masochistic conduct. 

Law enforcement searched the defendant’s residence in Fairbanks, Alaska on September 3, 2015.  A forensic examination of the defendant’s computer located files of child pornography, including images and videos of minors under the age of 12, as well as images and videos showing sadistic and masochistic conduct.

In a statement to law enforcement at the time of the search, the defendant admitted to knowingly using search terms associated with child pornography to search the file-sharing network for images and videos of child pornography.  The defendant described that he engaged in a pattern of downloading files of child pornography through the Internet, viewing those files, and then deleting those files from his computer.  The defendant admitted to having approximately 250 images and videos of child pornography on his computer at the time law enforcement seized it from him. 

This case was investigated and prosecuted by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, and the Alaska Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.  The Alaska ICAC is a federally and state funded task force managed by the Anchorage Police Department comprised of agents from federal, military, state, and local agencies.  The purpose of the Alaska ICAC is to investigate online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography, enticement, and sex trafficking.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov, or contact the District of Alaska’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator at (907) 271-5071.

Updated August 1, 2016

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Project Safe Childhood
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