Christopher Lawrence Stouffer, 39, of Cumberland, Maryland, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting two minors. District Chief Judge George Levi Russell, III, handed down the sentence, which also includes lifetime supervised release. Stouffer is required to register as a sex offender for life.
The sentencing was announced by Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland; William J. DelBagno, Special Agent in Charge at the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office; James Elliott, State’s Attorney for Allegany County; and Chief John C. Ralston, Jr., of the Frostburg State University Police.
Court documents show that Stouffer used his cell phone over several months to create explicit videos of one minor victim starting when she was nine years old. He also installed a hidden camera in a bathroom and recorded another minor victim who was fourteen years old. Authorities found that he stored these files on a hard drive with at least 800 video files containing images of infants and toddlers.
This case falls under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to address child sexual exploitation and abuse across the country. The program brings together federal, state, and local agencies to find and prosecute those who exploit children and to identify victims. More details about Project Safe Childhood are available at https://www.justice.gov/psc.
U.S. Attorney Hayes recognized the work of the FBI and Frostburg State University Police during the investigation. “Ms. Hayes thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen E. McGuinn and Spencer L. Todd who prosecuted the federal case.”
Further information about resources from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office can be found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
