Kutztown man sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for trading child pornography

A Kutztown man who traded child pornography online for more than five years was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution to the known victims of abuse depicted in the images he trafficked.

John Joseph Krasley, 52, must pay $30,000 in restitution to two victims of sexual abuse who provided statements about the impact of their exploitation to the court. U.S. District Judge Edward G. Smith also ordered Krasley to serve 10 years of supervised release after his prison term. Krasley was convicted of 14 child exploitation offenses after a trial in October 2019.

According to prosecutors, between 2013 and 2018 Krasley traded files that contained images of children being sexually abused with users of a number of websites. He maintained an extensive collection of images and videos depicting infants, toddlers and young boys being abused, prosecutors said.

Undercover agents from a number of agencies interacted with Krasley on the websites as he shared and accessed the materials. After an extended investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, Krasley was arrested and charged in 2018, prosecutors said.

“Child sexual exploitation is appallingly pervasive, exacerbated by the easy availability of digital media and communications,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams. “Every video, every image, depicts a real victim, an innocent child who will feel the scars for a lifetime. These investigations are therefore so important, and every conviction makes the community safer for children everywhere. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the investigators on this case, Krasley’s years of exploiting the victimization of children online is over.”

A sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors says Krasley continued to share child pornography even after law enforcement searched his home in 2006, 2010 and 2013. No evidence of child pornography was found on his electronic devices and an expert witness for the government testified that Krasley may have used an external memory card to boot his computer, leaving no trace of the materials on the machine itself.

Prosecutors argued that Krasley’s sentence needed to be severe because he continued to seek out and trade child pornography even after he knew law enforcement was investigating. Krasley’s sentence is the maximum penalty for the offenses of which he was convicted.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert S. Glenn.

Morning Call reporter Peter Hall can be reached at 610-820-6581 or peter.hall@mcall.com.

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