A Colorado man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison, along with a lifetime of supervised release, for distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and participating in a dark-web site focused on CSAM.
Court documents reveal that Christopher Carl Meier, 41, from Denver, was involved with a dark-web platform dedicated to CSAM depicting boys while he was still on parole for a 2013 conviction related to the sexual exploitation of a child. On July 9, Meier admitted guilt to conspiracy to distribute CSAM and five counts of distribution. Over an 18-month period as a member of this site, Meier made over 600 posts where he advertised and distributed illicit images and videos. He confessed on the website that he created this material by deceiving boys into believing they were interacting online with a girl their age, persuading them to undress and perform sex acts on camera. The FBI has identified at least 65 victims affected by Meier's actions.
The announcement was made by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Kirsch for the District of Colorado; Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Special Agent in Charge Mark D. Michalek of the FBI Denver Field Office.
The case was investigated by the FBI Child Exploitation Operational Unit and Denver Field Office.
Prosecution was handled by Acting Deputy Chief Kyle Reynolds of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alecia L. Riewerts for the District of Colorado.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse through collaboration among federal, state, and local resources to locate offenders and rescue victims.