A Salem man, John Christopher Christensen, 49, was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison and 15 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of receiving child pornography. The sentencing took place before U.S. District Judge Michael Simon.
According to court documents, investigators from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) accessed an online chatroom in December 2022 that was used for trading images of child sexual abuse. Christensen was identified as a participant in the chatroom. Authorities later determined his identity and confirmed he was a registered sex offender living in Salem, Oregon, with a prior conviction for a sex offense against a minor. He had also been arrested by Salem police on January 1, 2023, on new charges involving minors.
In mid-January 2023, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at Christensen’s home and found several devices containing child pornography. Some of the material matched content posted in the online chatroom.
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.
The investigation was led by HSI with help from the Salem Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Sussman prosecuted the case 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. It is important to remember child sexual abuse material depicts actual crimes being committed against children. Not only do these images and videos document the victims’ exploitation and abuse, but when shared across the internet, re-victimize and re-traumatize the child victims each time their abuse is viewed. To learn more, please visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at www.missingkids.org.”
This prosecution falls under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to address child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. More details about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
