A Salem man, previously convicted as a sex offender, has been sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to receiving child pornography.
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon sentenced John Christopher Christensen, 49, to 210 months in prison and ordered a 15-year term of supervised release. Christensen appeared in federal court in August 2024 after completing a state sentence for luring a minor. He pleaded guilty to the federal charge in May 2025.
Investigators from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) accessed an online chatroom dedicated to trading images of child sexual abuse in December 2022. Christensen was identified as one of the participants. Authorities learned that he was already registered as a sex offender due to a previous conviction involving a minor and had been arrested by Salem police on January 1, 2023, for new offenses involving minors. In mid-January 2023, investigators executed a federal search warrant at his residence and found several devices containing child pornography, including material that had been posted in the chatroom.
The case was investigated by HSI with help from the Salem Police Department and prosecuted by Gary Sussman, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
"Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to contact HSI at (866) 347-2423 or submit a tip online at report.cybertip.org."
Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor. Such material documents actual crimes against children and can cause ongoing harm each time it is viewed or shared online. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children provides additional information on these issues at www.missingkids.org.
"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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc."
