On Friday, September 25, 2026, La Center, Kentucky, resident Christopher Peck was charged by criminal complaint with Production of Visual Depictions Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors. If convicted, Peck faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison.
The criminal complaint alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after reviewing an encrypted online conversation between a suspect the foreign authorities were investigating and an individual with a username the FBI later linked to Peck. The complaint alleges that Peck told the foreign suspect that he was actively abusing a 10-year-old girl and that he was using a spiked drink to facilitate the abuse.
Peck then allegedly sent several photos of the minor victim being sexually abused that were taken in a hotel room. Law enforcement identified the minor victim as residing in Louisiana. The complaint further alleges that Peck rented a hotel room in Louisiana that matched the timeframe in which the images were transmitted, April 2026. Peck was arrested in Kentucky on September 29, 2026.
The FBI and the New Zealand Police division of Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand (OCEANZ) investigated this case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Cassidy, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Denise Duhon.
A criminal complaint is an allegation. All defendants are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
