Woodland Park Woman Sentenced to 27 Years in Federal Prison for Producing Child Pornography While Sexually Abusing Minor Child to Whom She Had Access

DENVER – Rhiannon Carnahan, age 30, of Woodland Park, Colorado, was sentenced earlier this week to serve 324 months (27 years) in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson, Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Commander for Colorado Lieutenant Christina Sheppard of the Colorado Springs Police Department, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Acting Special Agent in Charge John Eisert announced. Following her prison sentence, Carnahan was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release. The defendant, who appeared at the hearing in custody, was remanded at its conclusion.

Carnahan and a co-defendant were first charged by criminal complaints on April 23, 2015. They were then indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on May 6, 2015. On March 31, 2016, Carnahan pled guilty before Judge Jackson. She was sentenced on February 21, 2017. Co-defendant Brandon Tyler Hill had pled guilty and was sentenced by Judge Jackson to serve 360 months (30 years) in federal prison for his role in the production of child pornography. Hill will spend his entire life on supervised release.

According to court documents, the Colorado Springs Police Department initiated an investigation after a civilian witness contacted law enforcement to report that Hill had sent her unwanted child pornography images via email and was being extorted to produce more child pornography images. As part of the investigation, it was determined that the defendant utilized numerous identities, including that of an ICAC police officer, to attempt to make the civilian witness to produce child pornography. The investigation revealed that Hill was also communicating online with co-defendant Rhiannon Carnahan, who he learned had access to Minor #1, a child who was 3 years old when the offense conduct began. Hill used various pseudonyms to communicate with Carnahan. Hill made numerous and repeated requests for images and videos depicting Minor #1 engaged in sexually explicit conduct. During the course of the communications and in response to Hill’s requests for child pornography depicting Minor #1, Carnahan sexually abused Minor #1 over a three-month time frame, used her cell phone to take images and videos of that abuse, and sent those images and videos to Hill. Minor #1 was a child in Carnahan’s care when Carnahan sexually exploited Minor #1. Carnahan is one of a growing number of women charged with child pornography crimes in the District of Colorado.

The Carnahan case was investigated by the Colorado Springs Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with support provided by the Woodland Park Police Department.

Carnahan is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alecia Riewerts, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, assigned to the Cybercrime and National Security Section of the Colorado U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, 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.justice.gov/psc.