Carmichael Man Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sam Moss Kerfoot, 27, of Carmichael, pleaded guilty today to sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. 

According to court documents, in April 2022, Kerfoot used the online application Omegle to meet teenage girls in the Sacramento area, including Victim 1, who was a minor. On multiple occasions, Kerfoot picked up the victim from school and took her off campus to have sexual intercourse with her, and Kerfoot took a video of this sexual exploitation. Law enforcement searched Kerfoot’s phone and located 73 videos of child sexual abuse material. Law enforcement also searched Kerfoot’s SnapChat account and learned that Kerfoot had used Snapchat to send and receive child pornography.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force Internet Crimes Against Children unit including the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Sauvageau is prosecuting the case.

Kerfoot is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Dale A. Drozd on October 22, 2024. Kerfoot was previously convicted for crimes related to the sexual abuse of a minor, and accordingly is subject to a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence. Kerfoot faces a maximum statutory penalty of 50 years in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.