Madison Man Sentenced for Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange has sentenced a Madison, South Dakota, man convicted of Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on September 16, 2024.

Christopher James Smith, age 32, was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100. Smith must register as a sex offender upon his release from federal prison.

Smith was indicted by a federal grand jury in August of 2023. He pleaded guilty on June 26, 2024.

The conviction stemmed from incidents between January 18, 2021, and August 19, 2022, when Smith knowingly received files containing child pornography, including victims as young as one and two-years old.

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 the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey C. Clapper and Elizabeth A. Ebert-Webb prosecuted the case.

Smith was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.