Christopher Michael Ratten, Transporting Child Sex Abuse Images, Florida 2021

A federal judge has sentenced a Virginia man to 7 years in prison for transporting child sex abuse images aboard an international cruise ship.

Christopher Michael Ratten, 32, of Stafford, Virginia, was sentenced on October 17, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton.

Ratten had pleaded guilty to the charges in October 2022. He was arrested and charged with transportation of child sex abuse images on September 9, 2021.

According to court documents, Ratten flew from Washington, D.C. to Florida on September 4, 2021, and boarded a commercial cruise ship at Port Canaveral. The cruise made stops in the Bahamas before returning to Port Canaveral on September 9, 2021.

Upon Ratten's reentry to the United States, an agent from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducted a border search of Ratten's cellphone and located child sex abuse images on the phone. Further forensic investigation revealed that Ratten had more than 4,500 images and videos of child sex abuse on his phone, a number of which depicted the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers and bestiality.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda Daniels.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/virginia-man-sentenced-seven-years-federal-prison-transportation-child-sex-abuse-images