May 10, 2021 - PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Craig Alex Levin, 65, of King of Prussia, PA, was charged by Superseding Indictment with additional child exploitation offenses related to his travel to the Philippines. The defendant, who was previously detained in the Philippines, was deported back to the United States in August 2020 and has been held in federal detention since that time.

The Superseding Indictment contains sixteen counts including nine counts of interstate and foreign travel for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, two counts of sex trafficking of a minor, one count of use of an interstate commerce facility to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, two counts of distribution of child pornography, one count of transfer of obscene material to a minor, and one count of transportation of child pornography.

The Superseding Indictment alleges that Levin, a former high school teacher for the Lower Merion School District, created and maintained Facebook accounts that he used to communicate with minors in the Philippines for the purpose of enticing them to engage in illicit sexual conduct with him during his visits to the Philippines. In addition, the defendant allegedly used Facebook Messenger to send images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct and obscene photographs from his residence to minors in the Philippines. Between August 29, 2016 and May 8, 2019, Levin is alleged to have traveled to the Philippines nine times to have sex with minor children. Levin was first indicted with child exploitation offenses related to his travel to the Philippines in February 2020.

“As alleged in the Superseding Indictment, the defendant repeatedly traveled to the Philippines and stayed for months as a time in order to sexually prey on children,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “If Mr. Levin thought he could get away with these crimes because they occurred on the other side of the world, that was a grave miscalculation on his part. Holding child sexual predators accountable, including those who travel overseas to commit their heinous acts, will continue to be a top priority of our Office.”

“Craig Levin went to extraordinary lengths to sexually exploit children, as alleged in the superseding indictment,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “He repeatedly trekked thousands of miles to the Philippines and ensconced himself there for months, taking advantage of situations of extreme poverty in order to prey on underage girls. Child sexual exploitation is abhorrent anywhere it occurs, and the FBI will continue to go after Americans who travel abroad for that purpose. We’re determined to hold them accountable for the damage they’ve done and prevent them from victimizing anyone else’s child.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of lifetime imprisonment with a mandatory minimum of ten years’ imprisonment, lifetime supervised release, a $4,000,000 fine, and a $1,600 special assessment, and an additional $75,000 mandatory special assessment. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Damiani and Trial Attorney Austin M. Berry of the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: DOJ