Soldotna man faces federal charges for alleged CSAM purchases via PayPal

A Soldotna man faces federal charges for allegedly possessing and receiving child sexual abuse material after investigators traced roughly 27 PayPal purchases to his account over at least two years.

Adam O'Guinn, 29, was arrested in Sterling and appeared July 2 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. He faces one count of possession of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. If convicted, he faces between five and 20 years in federal prison, with the sentence to be determined by a federal district court judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Court documents allege that law enforcement identified O'Guinn as a buyer from known CSAM sources through his PayPal activity. When investigators executed a search warrant at his residence, they found the material on his phone. The U.S. Attorney's Office noted in its July 2 press release that O'Guinn is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Investigation and Prosecution

The U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service is leading the investigation. The U.S. Marshals Service's Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force and Alaska State Troopers assisted. The case is being prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to coordinate federal, state, and local resources against child exploitation.

Alaska Department of Public Safety dispatch records show Task Force Dawnbreaker arrested two Sitka men on ten counts each of possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material in late June, part of a series of CSAM cases moving through Alaska law enforcement this summer.

Anyone with information about the alleged conduct can contact the U.S. Department of State at [email protected].