Dapree Richard Christlieb-Peterson, Child Pornography, Minnesota 2024

A 22-year-old Crystal man has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of producing child pornography that victimized minor teenage girls in Minnesota and across the country.

Dapree Richard Christlieb-Peterson, 22, used internet apps, social media, and text messages to engage minors in sexually explicit conversations in order to entice and coerce them to engage in illegal sexual encounters with him.

According to court documents, between April 2022 and September 13, 2023, Christlieb-Peterson specifically targeted at least five minors between the ages of 12 and 17 years old in Minnesota, Florida, and elsewhere, to create images and videos of their sexually explicit conduct.

Christlieb-Peterson pleaded guilty on February 4, 2024, in U.S. District Court before Judge Eric C. Tostrud to five counts of production and attempted production of child pornography.

The case is the result of an investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys David M. Classen and Robert M. Lewis are prosecuting the case. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

This disturbing case highlights the dangers of online child exploitation and the importance of Project Safe Childhood in combating this scourge. As a society, we must come together to protect our children and hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.