Eastern Washington Man Sentenced to 17 Years in Federal Prison for Child Porn for the Third Time

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A 50-year-old Spokane man who had spent about a decade in prison for child pornography crimes was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years in federal prison for again possessing child porn.

U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rossana Malouf Peterson sentenced Christopher Gary Carlson to 15 years in prison for receipt of child pornography and two years of incarceration for violating a  term of supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office — Eastern District of Washington. Peterson ordered Carlson to pay $24,000 in restitution to his victims and to a lifetime of federal supervision when he is released from prison.

According to information disclosed in court proceedings, it was Carlson's third time being sentenced for child pornography crimes, the release said. His first conviction was in 2007 and he was sentenced to one year in state prison. His second conviction was in 2014, for which Peterson sentenced Carlson to 10 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release.



Carlson used a smartphone to download and view child pornography a month after his recent release from federal prison, the attorney's office said. The smartphone was discovered in July when a U.S. probation officer conducted a home visit at Carlson's residence. After obtaining a warrant to search the phone, FBI agents located 198 images and 63 videos of child porn on Carlson's device.

"Today's 17-year sentence sends a powerful reminder to Mr. Carlson and others like him: Crimes that exploit the most vulnerable among us cannot, and will not, be tolerated," U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref said in the release. "Time and again, Mr. Carlson returned to the internet to view and collect depictions of a child's most horrific experiences. Yet, just as swiftly as Mr. Carlson collected these images and videos depicting this incredible harm, U.S. Probation and the FBI responded, preventing Mr. Carlson from victimizing hundreds if not thousands more minor children."