SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Christopher L. Crawford, 38, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley to 20 years in prison for enticing a minor online and traveling in interstate commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
According to court documents, in March 2017, Crawford met a young victim online in a video game and began texting and video chatting with her. Crawford told the victim that he was 15 years old. After a few weeks of chatting, Crawford made plans to come to Sacramento and meet the victim. In April 2017, Crawford travelled from Texas to California, and lured the victim away from her junior high school campus and molested her.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a federally and state-funded task force managed by the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department with agents from federal, state, and local agencies. The Sacramento ICAC investigates online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography, enticement, and sex trafficking. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosanne Rust prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources" tab for information about internet safety education.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
