Sixteen count indictment included forcing a minor child to engage in commercial sex acts with another person
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. announced the 50 year sentence followed by a lifetime period of supervised release today, by Chief District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr., of a Louisville man who sexually abused a minor child, forced the minor child to engage in commercial sex acts with another person, and sexually exploited that child and nine other minor children to produce visual images.
Christopher Kosicki, 27, pleaded guilty to 15 charges in a superseding indictment, on July 23, 2015, in U.S. District Court in Owensboro, Kentucky. Further charges included sex trafficking a child under age 14, and aiding and abetting another person to cross a state line with intent to engage in sexual acts with a person who had not attained the age of 12 years. Co-defendant Howard Key Chambers of Oldham County, Kentucky, remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshall Service. Chambers is charged with forcing a minor child to engage in commercial sex acts and engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a minor child to create visual images that can be transported in commerce by any means. Chambers is scheduled for trial in Louisville on April 12th, 2016.
According to the plea agreement, and statements made in court, the criminal activity took place at Kosicki’s Louisville home between September 2012 and September 26, 2014 - when the defendant was arrested through a federal criminal complaint. Kosicki admitted in court to making a 10, then 11-year-old child available to others for sexually explicit activity. Later examination of digital devices and storage media owned by Kosicki revealed his production of sexually explicit images of 10 different children over the course of several years. All of the images were created in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
Law enforcement officials first became aware of Kosicki’s criminal conduct after arresting Raymond Shadburn in Seymour, Indiana, on September 24, 2014, on child exploitation charges. During a post-arrest interview, Shadburn allegedly provided information that led law enforcement to Kosicki’s residence in Jefferson County, Louisville, Kentucky.
Shadburn and Kosicki originally met online when Shadburn responded to a Craig’s List ad placed by Kosicki. In connection with the ad, Shadburn drove from Indiana to Kosicki’s residence in Louisville at least four times beginning in late August, early September 2014. While there, Kosicki made an 11-year-old child available to Shadburn for sexual activity. During one of the visits in September, Shadburn took sexually explicit photographs of the child (Jane Doe 1), in the presence of Kosicki. At least one photo depicted Kosicki and the child. Shadburn took the images with him back to Indiana and later shared the images with other individuals on the Internet (including an undercover police officer in Washington, D.C.). During at least one visit, both men engaged in sexual activity with the child.
In 2013, Kosicki allegedly met co-defendant Howard Key Chambers via Craig’s List. The two communicated online and, eventually, Chambers allegedly travelled from Oldham County, Kentucky, to Louisville, Kentucky, to meet Kosicki at Kosicki’s residence.
Chambers is charged with travelling to Kosicki’s home to engage in sexual activity with the 10-year-old turned 11-year-old child, between six and eight times, from 2013 until August 2014. The two helped each other entice, harbor, provide, obtain, and maintain a person that had not attained the age of 14 years who was caused to engage in commercial sex acts, that is, any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to and received by any person. On several occasions, Chambers allegedly gave Kosicki money after engaging in sexual activity with the child (age 10 and then 11). On at least one occasion, he (Chambers) is charged with giving money directly to the child after engaging in sexual activity with her. Additionally, on one occasion, Kosicki photographed Chambers allegedly engaging in sexual activity with the child.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jo E. Lawless and Spencer McKiness and is being investigated by the Indianapolis Police Department, District of Columbia Metro Police, Louisville Metro Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).