Guilford Man Sentenced to 26 Years in Prison for Coercing and Threatening Children to Produce Sexually Explicit Material

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHRISTOPHER MICHAELSON, 39, of Guilford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 312 months of imprisonment, followed by 20 years of supervised release, for coercing and threatening minors to send him sexually explicit images of themselves.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 9, 2019, the Guilford Police Department assisted Burrillville (R.I.) Police with the arrest of Michaelson at his residence in Guilford on Rhode Island state charges for child molestation, solicitation, and enticement. During the arrest, officers seized Michaelson's cellphone. A court-authorized search of the seized phone revealed thousands of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, primarily boys between the ages of five and 15, and communications between Michaelson and minor victims whom he coerced, and often verbally abused and threatened, to send sexually explicit images of themselves to him. Michaelson shared some of these images with others.

Michaelson has been detained since his arrest. On March 16, 2023, he pleaded guilty to production of child pornography.

The Rhode Island state charges against Michaelson are pending.

This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office, the Guilford Police Department, and the Burrillville Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie T. Levick and Nancy V. Gifford.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.