Man Sentenced to More Than 33 Years in Prison for Operating Online Chat Group That Shared Child Pornography

CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to more than 33 years in federal prison for operating an online chat group that shared large amounts of child pornography.

CHRISTOPHER MARTIN operated and led a group chat on the instant-messaging mobile application Kik. Martin moderated the chat and enforced the rules.  The primary rule was that if members wanted to stay in the group, they had to constantly share photos and videos of child pornography.  For example, when a prospective user wanted to join the group, Martin wrote, “Send what you got.  Anything young is fine for group trade . . . Send youngest.”  If group members were slow to share child pornography, Martin would pressure them to do so, writing, “If you don’t send [images to the group] you will be removed [from the group].”  Martin was also a prolific sharer and trader of child pornography in his group chat.

Martin, 46, of Markham, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal charges of transportation of child pornography.  On June 11, 2026, U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall sentenced Martin to 33 years and nine months in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  

“Defendant’s offense is extremely serious,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Zenner argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “Defendant’s facilitation of the sharing of hundreds of images and videos of young children being abused helped to drive the creation of those images and videos, and the creation of future images and videos of other abused children.”

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678.  The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.