Cumberland Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Children

Baltimore, Maryland - District Chief Judge George Levi Russell, III, sentenced Christopher Lawrence Stouffer, age 39, of Cumberland, Maryland, to 20 years in prison, today, followed by lifetime supervised release, for sexually exploiting two minors. Additionally, Stouffer must register as a sex offender for life.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - Baltimore Field Office; James Elliott, State's Attorney for Allegany County; and Chief John C. Ralston, Jr., Frostburg State University Police.

According to court documents, over several months, Stouffer used his cellular phone to produce numerous explicit videos of one minor victim beginning when she was 9 years old. Stouffer also installed a covert camera in the bathroom and captured explicit images of another minor victim who was 14. He then downloaded these files onto a hard drive where he kept a collection of at least 800 video files, including depictions of infants and toddlers.

This case is 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 United States Attorney's 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 individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI and Frostburg State University Police for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen E. McGuinn and Spencer L. Todd who prosecuted the federal case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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