Social Media Child Predator Sentenced To Life In Prison

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron has sentenced Charles William Maitski (60, St. Cloud) to life in federal prison for producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and enticing children to engage in sexual activity. Maitski pleaded guilty on July 8, 2025.

According to court documents, after following up on a tip in June 2024, law enforcement discovered that Maitski had been sexually exploiting children using the internet since at least 2012. Through a series of search warrants and victim interviews, law enforcement learned that Maitski hid behind an online persona of a 14-year-old boy named “Chuck.” He met his young victims online and then groomed them using the social media platforms Instagram and Discord.

To build trust with his victims, Maitski sent his victims hundreds of messages a day, including explicit images and videos of the young teenaged boy he had adopted as his persona. In return, Maitski demanded that his victims perform for him on video calls and record and send him increasingly graphic and degrading CSAM. Maitski also attempted to convince a victim to molest children she was babysitting. Between 2023 and 2024, Maitski exchanged more than 50,000 messages with his victims, contacted nearly 300 minors and suspected minors on Instagram and Discord, and sent, received, or directed the production of hundreds of images and videos of CSAM.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Cloud Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard Varadan.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood 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 Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.