Press Release

Two Anchorage Men Convicted of Possession and Distribution of Child Pornography

July 16, 2014

On July 16, 2014, 26 year old Anchorage resident Stuart Ravn was convicted of 22 counts related to the possession and distribution of child pornography. Evidence at trial showed that Ravn, who gave music lessons to area children out of his parents’ residence, was a member of a sophisticated internet-based Russian child pornography ring, and possessed and distributed numerous images and videos of the sexual exploitation of children as young as toddlers. Several of the counts relate to depictions of masochism, sadism and sexual penetration. Ravn faces a presumptive sentencing range of two to 12 years on each count and will be subject to lifetime sex offender registration requirements upon his release. Ravn is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Smith in Anchorage Superior court on November 14, 2014.

Ravn’s conviction is the second Anchorage area conviction for offenses related to child pornography in the past week. On July 11, 2014, 32 year old Anchorage resident Richard M. O’Connor was convicted in a separate case of six counts of possession and distribution of child pornography. O’Connor was found to possess and distribute over the course of at least a decade images and videos of sexual sadism and sexual penetration involving children ranging in age from six to 10 years old, and also faces a sentencing range of two to 12 years on each count. O’Connor is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Wolverton in Anchorage Superior Court on November 21, 2014.

Both cases were investigated by the Cyber Crimes Unit of the Anchorage Police Department, and prosecuted by the Alaska Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecutions.

CONTACT: Assistant Attorney General Adam Alexander at 269-6339 or Adam.Alexander@Alaska.Gov.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.