A Minnesota man, Craig James Myran, was sentenced on April 1, 2025, to 21 years and 10 months in prison for possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) via the dark web. The ruling follows a federal jury conviction on multiple counts related to child pornography.
According to court documents, Myran, aged 47 of Bemidji, actively participated in a dark web forum dedicated to CSAM trafficking. He utilized a unique username to post over a thousand times, sharing and soliciting specific illicit images. Among these, Myran shockingly referred to some requested files as his “holy grail.” Furthermore, he advertised over 100 sadomasochistic images involving two prepubescent children. FBI agents conducted a search on December 8, 2022, at his residence, discovering a cell phone and hard drives with evidence of his activities and additional thousands of CSAM images.
The government's sentencing memorandum revealed that Myran was involved in multiple dark web sites for CSAM trafficking. He also posted about creating new illicit material by recording minors during online webcam interactions. On November 20, 2024, Myran was convicted of two counts of advertising child pornography, one count of distribution, and one count of possession.
This case was announced by Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick for the District of Minnesota; and Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of the FBI Minneapolis Field Office.
The FBI Minneapolis Field Office conducted the investigation, while Trial Attorney William G. Clayman and Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Green prosecuted the case.
This legal action is part of Project Safe Childhood, a Justice Department initiative aimed at addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006. The program coordinates resources to identify, apprehend, and prosecute offenders, as well as rescue victims. Further information on Project Safe Childhood is available at www.justice.gov/psc.