Registered Sex Offender Sentenced To Federal Prison For Receipt Of Child Pornography

DENVER – Kris Katzenmeyer, age 51, of Broomfield, Colorado, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn to serve 87 months (over 7 years) in federal prison for receipt of child pornography, U.S. Attorney John Walsh and Denver Division U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Adam P. Behnen announced. Following his prison sentence, Judge Blackburn sentenced Katzenmeyer to spend 20 years on supervised release. He also will be required to register as a sex offender. The defendant appeared at the sentencing hearing in custody, and was remanded at the hearing’s conclusion.

Katzenmeyer was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on December 6, 2012. He pled guilty to receipt of child pornography before Judge Blackburn on June 20, 2013. He was sentenced on September 18, 2013.

According to court documents, including the indictment and the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, in October 2010, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and a Foreign Law Enforcement Agency began an investigation into a movie production company that operated a website offering DVDs and streaming videos (films) of child pornography for sale. On numerous occasions in 2011, USPIS Inspectors conducted undercover purchases of DVDs via the international company’s online ordering system. Law enforcement determined that the international company had a shipping facility located in the state of New York and that the undercover online orders were transferred from the international company to this New York based shipping facility for fulfillment.

A review of the international company’s business records, recovered pursuant to a lawfully obtained search warrant during the investigation, identified customer Kris Katzenmeyer, the defendant, who was living in Northglenn, Colorado. The defendant used the internet to purchase 49 films from the international company’s website between November 24, 2006 and April 29, 2011. The defendant received all of the films as they were delivered to him through the U.S. Mail.

During the investigation it was determined that the defendant volunteered at a local church, working on the church’s website and teaching computer classes. During a subsequent interview, the defendant stated that he had physical contact with a minor child on three occasions between 2009 and 2012.

“This investigation originated from information received from overseas law enforcement partners, which demonstrates that the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, working closely together with our law enforcement partners, will now allow international boundaries to prevent us from conducting criminal investigations, especially when they pertain to the exploitation of our children,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh.

“Protecting children from these crimes is a top priority for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service,” said Denver Division U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Adam P. Behnen. “This prison sentence should put all types of child predators on notice that serious consequences await those who seek to exploit children via the U.S. Mail.”

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

The defendant was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alecia Riewerts Wolak.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC 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 PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab "resources."

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