Federal Jury Convicts Tennessee Man of Producing and Distributing Child Sexual Abuse Material

JACKSON, Tenn. — A federal jury returned a guilty verdict against Christopher Peyton Stricklin, 19, of Savannah, Tennessee, on three counts of child sexual exploitation offenses committed in August 2025.

The United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, D. Michael Dunavant, announced the verdict on May 12, 2026. Evidence presented at trial showed Stricklin used a cell phone to videotape himself sexually molesting a minor female. He then sent that video to another minor using the same device.

Stricklin faced a three-count indictment charging production of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, and transfer of obscene material to a person under 16. The jury convicted him on all counts after the trial in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

The verdict changes the case status from active prosecution to post-verdict sentencing proceedings. Federal law imposes a mandatory minimum 15-year prison term for production of child pornography when the victim is under 12 or the conduct involves specified aggravating factors; the distribution and transfer counts each carry additional guideline ranges calculated from the Sentencing Guidelines.

Sentencing will occur after completion of a presentence report by the U.S. Probation Office, which has no fixed statutory deadline but typically concludes within 60 to 90 days of conviction.

Downstream, the Bureau of Prisons will receive custody upon final judgment and must classify Stricklin under its sex-offender management protocols. The conviction also triggers lifetime supervised release, mandatory sex-offender registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and potential restitution to the victim under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office must next file a sentencing memorandum outlining guideline calculations and any enhancements for use of a minor victim and distribution of the material.

This marks the latest federal child-exploitation prosecution in the Western District of Tennessee. The Department of Justice has pursued similar production-and-distribution cases under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251 and 2252, statutes unchanged since the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act amendments that raised mandatory minimums.

The original indictment was returned after federal agents obtained the cell phone containing both the recording and the transmission evidence.