A Fort Wainwright soldier was sentenced on Apr. 3 to 32 years in prison for possessing and producing thousands of images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The sentencing follows an investigation that began when the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, reporting that alleged CSAM had been uploaded to Discord. The investigation led law enforcement to execute search warrants at the residence and online accounts of David Andres Mayoral, age 21.
Authorities found over 2,500 images and more than 680 videos depicting CSAM on Mayoral’s devices, as well as approximately 1,000 computer-generated or artificial intelligence images showing similar content. Some materials depicted violent acts against children. Court documents revealed that Mayoral discussed distributing CSAM with adults and minors across social media platforms and admitted to sexually abusing a nine-year-old victim.
Mayoral was arrested at Fort Wainwright on March 13, 2025. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession on March 20, then pleaded guilty to all charges in August.
Following his prison term, Mayoral will be under supervised release for life. U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska said, “Mr. Mayoral hid behind the perceived anonymity of the internet and exploited children for his own sick desires… He will now spend over three decades behind bars.”
Acting Special Agent in Charge Brandon Waddle of the FBI Anchorage Field Office said, “Mayoral’s predatory crimes against children… were depraved and an affront to our society.” Special Agent in Charge Michele Starostka from Army CID stated that Mayoral “betrayed the Army’s core values by preying upon and exploiting our most precious and vulnerable.”
The case was investigated by FBI Anchorage Field Office and Army CID as part of Project Safe Childhood—a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation.
