June 1, 2023 - SAN FRANCISCO – Christopher Raymond Campbell was sentenced today to 150 months in prison for possessing, and enticing children to engage in the production of, child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Tatum King. The sentence was handed down by the Hon. Vince Chhabria, United States District Judge.

Campbell, 37, of Mountain View, pleaded guilty to the charges on January 17, 2023. According to his plea agreement, Campbell admitted that, between March of 2021 and March of 2022, he corresponded with multiple minors through social media platforms using his iPhone and other electronic devices. Campbell admitted he often used aliases and screennames to dupe his victims into taking sexually explicit photos of themselves and sending the images to him. For example, Campbell admitted he presented himself as a young female, and then talked to victims he knew to be young girls; by pretending to be a girl, he would gain the trust of his victims and persuade them to send him pornographic photographs and videos of themselves. Similarly, Campbell acknowledged he sometimes pretended to be other individuals to make his victims think they were talking to multiple different people; Campbell then pressured the minors into creating sexually explicit images of themselves. 

Campbell acknowledged in his plea agreement that he sometimes used a recording function on his phone to take and save live video of his communications with the minor females. He also admitted he gave his victims instructions on how to take the photos, including coaching them while they masturbated or, in the case of one victim (who was 9 years old), instructing her to insert various objects into her vagina despite the pain it caused her. Campbell admitted he enticed one minor to send him at least 10 videos of herself engaged in sexually explicit conduct and that another minor victim (estimated to be between 10 and 14 years old) sent him videos including one showing her breasts and pubic region.

On August 25, 2022, a federal grand jury indicted Campbell, charging him with one count each of coercion and enticement of a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b); receipt of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(2) and (b); and possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(4)(B) and (b)(2). Campbell pleaded guilty to the possession charge and the coercion and enticement of a minor charge. Judge Chhabria dismissed the receipt of child pornography charge at sentencing. 

In addition to the prison term, Judge Chhabria also ordered Campbell to serve 60 months of supervised release—to begin after his prison term. Judge Chhabria ordered Campbell to begin serving his prison term on July 28, 2023.

Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Yeh is prosecuting the case with assistance from Lakisha Holliman and Amala James. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by HSI.
Source: DOJ Release