Anchorage Man sentenced to 18 years in prison for attempting to sexually exploit children in Cambodia

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that an Anchorage man was sentenced Thursday for attempting to sexually exploit children in Cambodia over the course of four years and attempting to arrange a child sex tourism trip for himself and others to Cambodia.

During yesterday’s all day sentencing hearing, Jason Jayavarman, 46, was fined $50,000, sentenced to 18 years in prison and ordered to submit to supervised release for life by U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason.  Jayavarman was convicted in March 2015 of attempted sexual exploitation of a child for the purpose of producing child pornography, and of attempted travel with the intent to aid and abet others to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place.

The evidence presented at trial established that over the course of 12 trips to Cambodia between 2010 and his arrest in 2013, Jayavarman produced multiple videos of himself engaging in sexual acts with an individual who he believed to be a child.  Jayavarman then transported the recordings back to the United States. 

According to trial evidence, Jayavarman also planned a trip for himself and others to Cambodia for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with children as young as 12 years old.  Trial evidence demonstrated that Jayavarman explained to one of the other potential travelers – who was an undercover FBI agent – how to groom a child for sex, avoid law enforcement detection and record high quality “mementos” of the sexual abuse. 

Jayavarman’s child exploitation activities came to light following a concerned citizen’s anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers.

The FBI and the Anchorage Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey J. Renschen and Trial Attorney Ravi Sinha of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) prosecuted the case.

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 United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better identify, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.