New Mexico Man Sentenced to More than 27 Years in Prison for Advertising and Selling Child Pornography Online

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A New Mexico man was sentenced yesterday on two felony charges related to his online child sexual exploitation activities, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples. 

U.S. District Court Judge Anna M. Manasco sentenced Wesley Alan Crownover, II, 37, to 330 months in prison, followed by a life term of supervised release.  In August 2023, Crownover pleaded guilty to one count of advertising child pornography and one count of sale of child pornography. These convictions will require Crownover to register as a sex offender in accordance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

According to the plea agreement, Crownover was a member of 10 separate online groups dedicated to users who have a sexual interest in children. Within some of these groups, Crownover marketed his child pornography collection comprising of thousands of images and videos for sale. When contacted by an FBI undercover agent in one of the online groups, Crownover sold 30 videos containing child sexual abuse material for $25.

A federal complaint and arrest warrant were obtained in the Northern District of Alabama, and a search warrant for Crownover’s residence was obtained from the District of New Mexico. When the warrants were executed, Crownover was not on the premises. Nonetheless, he saw law enforcement at his residence and fled the state. Crownover was a fugitive from justice for only a few months before he was located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and arrested by the United States Marshals Service.

FBI Birmingham’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case along with the assistance of FBI Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the United States Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys R. Leann White and Kristen Osborne prosecuted the case.

If you suspect or become aware of possible sexual exploitation of a child, please contact law enforcement. To alert the FBI Birmingham Office, call 205-326-6166. Reports can also be filed with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) or online at www.cybertipline.org.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.