Coos County Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Attempting to Sexually Exploit a Minor

EUGENE, Ore.-A North Bend, Oregon, man was sentenced to federal prison today for sexually exploiting an Oregon child using the social media application Facebook Messenger.

Chistopher Jay Young, 40, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison and 15 years' supervised release.

According to court documents, on January 20, 2024, Young, using Facebook Messenger, persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct, record the conduct, and send it to him.

On April 11, 2024, federal and state law enforcement officers from the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Oregon State Police, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, and the Lane County Sheriff's Office executed federal search warrants on Young's home and vehicles. Young was arrested and investigators seized his devices.

During a search of Young's devices, investigators learned that Young used the minor's social media account to communicate and request the child sexual abuse material and that Young had the minor's Facebook login credentials saved in his phone.

On April 16, 2024, a federal grand jury in Eugene returned a two-count indictment charging Young with attempting to use a minor to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct and attempting to coerce or entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual conduct.

On May 6, 2025, Young pleaded guilty to attempting to use a minor to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Lane County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from HSI. It was prosecuted by William M. McLaren, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Oregon.

Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

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, they 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 https://www.missingkids.org.

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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.