A man named John Cunningham has been arrested in Kansas on a 2021 federal warrant charging him with possession and transmission of images of child sexual abuse, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court on St. Croix.
A grand jury convened in April 2021 and charged Cunningham with two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography, according to the indictment.
The offenses in question took place in April and June of 2020, and the digital content included depictions of children under the age of 12, according to the indictment.
If the case ends in conviction, federal prosecutors are also seeking forfeiture of any cash or property — including cryptocurrency and electronic devices — used in or derived from the offenses.
The court sealed the indictment when it was initially filed. On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Ortiz filed a motion to unseal the indictment.
Cunningham was arrested Friday “in Kansas on an arrest warrant for this matter,” and there was no need to keep the indictment from public view, Ortiz wrote.
Magistrate Judge Emile Henderson III entered an order unsealing the indictment Monday.
— Contact Suzanne Carlson at 340-714-9122 or email scarlson@dailynews.vi.
