Wasilla Man Sentenced To 12 Years In Prison For Sexual Exploitation Of Children

Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a Wasilla man was sentenced on Thursday, June 25, 2015, in Federal Court in Anchorage before United States District Judge Timothy M. Burgess to 144 months (12 years) imprisonment and 17 years of Supervised Release for sexual exploitation of children: distributing child pornography.

Daniel Clinton Piaskowski, 33, of Wasilla, was sentenced after pleading guilty for using social media, file sharing and instant messaging, on his computer and cell phone, to connect with other like-minded users, to download, receive and distribute child pornography that depicted prepubescent children engaged in sex acts.  Evidence presented at the sentencing hearing showed that during one 18-day period alone – concluding on the day of his arrest – Piaskowski distributed 221 images of child pornography to twelve other males and chatted online with them about having sex with prepubescent children.  During their communications, two of the males described themselves to Piaskowski as teen-aged minors.

Judge Burgess commented on the extremely serious consequences that burdened the child sexual exploitation victims involved.  Judge Burgess also noted that the Internet has greatly expanded the market for producing child pornography world-wide [which in turn harms more children].

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey J. Renschen.

This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s ongoing Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative which was launched to increase Federal prosecutions of sexual predators of children, and to reduce the number of Internet crimes against children, including child pornography trafficking. As a part of PSC, the United States Attorney’s Office has teamed with state and local agencies and organizations to increase law enforcement presence on the Internet, and to educate the public about safe Internet use, thereby reducing the risk that children might fall prey to online sexual predators. For additional information on the PSC initiative, please go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska.