Petersburg Man Indicted on Transportation and Possession of Child Pornography

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a Petersburg man was indicted for the transportation and possession of child pornography.

Marvin Mitchell Jackson, 28, a resident of Petersburg, Alaska, was arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie C. Longenbaugh on the charges of transporting and possessing child pornography.  Jackson pled not guilty to the charges and was ordered detained pending trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack S. Schmidt, who is prosecuting the case, informed the court that Jackson was contacted Jan. 18, 2016, during an unrelated investigation.  Jackson was traveling from Washington to Petersburg, Alaska, on a commercial air carrier; his cell phone was seized and subsequently searched pursuant to a search warrant as part of that investigation.  During the search, a number of images of child pornography were discovered.  Law enforcement obtained additional search warrants and discovered hundreds of images of prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including images of known identifiable children obtained from Facebook and other media that had been modified by the defendant to depict the children in those images engaging in sexual explicit conduct.  Many of the images were modified by the defendant to depict prepubescent children engaged in sexual explicit conduct, including text stating sexual abuse fantasies related to those children.

Jackson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for the transportation of child pornography and faces a potential maximum sentence on each charge of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine, or both.  Jackson also faces up to life on supervised release.  Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.  Magistrate Judge Longenbaugh set a trial date for August 1, 2016, and ordered Jackson detained pending trial.  The defendant is currently awaiting sentencing on the related drug charges in state court.

The charges against Jackson are the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Petersburg Police Department.  If the public has any further information, questions, or concerns about the activities of Jackson please contact the FBI at (907) 265-8254.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood.  In May 2006, DOJ launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.