Kansas Sex Offender Convicted Of Distributing Child Pornography

BOSTON – A previously convicted sex offender was convicted Tuesday, March 12, 2019, by a federal jury in Boston following a five-day trial.

Christopher Saemisch, 61, was convicted of distributing child pornography to a currently incarcerated federal inmate. U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. scheduled sentencing for July 9, 2019.

In 1997, Saemisch was convicted in federal court for conspiring to sexually exploit children, aiding and abetting the sexual exploitation of children, conspiring to distribute and receive child pornography, and distributing and receiving child pornography. He was also convicted by a Kansas court in 1999 for aggravated indecent liberties with a child under 14.

In April 2016, agents received information from a federal inmate that Saemisch, who at the time was living in Kansas City, Kansas, admitted to looking at and storing child pornography and wanting to travel to Europe to have sex with children. Saemisch boasted to the inmate about his access to children and his new job babysitting four children.  

During the inmate’s communications with Saemisch, they used special coded language to discuss the collection and distribution of child pornography. The inmate confirmed that he and Saemisch used the code word “antiques,” when referring to child pornography and the code word “puppies,” to refer to children. 

On May 3, 2016, agents, pretending to be the inmate, began communicating with Saemisch. During the monitored conversations on various messaging apps and web platforms, Saemisch directed the undercover agents to set-up accounts to receive and exchange child pornography. He also sent them child pornography that he had stored on various file storage sites. Saemisch was arrested on May 6, 2016, while attending an event at a nudist campsite.

Due to Saemsich’s prior child exploitation convictions, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 40 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and J. Ray Ormond, Northeast Regional Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, made the announcement. Assistance was also provided by the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Kansas, as well as the Johnson County and Leavenworth County Sheriffs’ Departments in Kansas. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jordi de Llano, James Herbert and Anne Paruti of Lelling’s Criminal Division.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.