A 46-year-old Indianapolis man and convicted sex offender has been sentenced to 16 years and three months in federal prison for distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material, capping a case that began when police responded to a domestic-disturbance call at his home in March 2024. Christopher J. White was also ordered to pay $270,000 in restitution and will face lifetime supervised release once he is out of prison.
The case traces back to March 19, 2024, when Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to White's home after a report of a domestic disturbance, according to WIBC 93.1 FM. During that response, a relative reported that sexually explicit images of minors were on White's cellphone, and witnesses said images of a younger relative had been posted to social media without permission. That relative, who was younger than eight years old, was shown wearing a swimsuit in the images, per the station's report.
Investigators with the U.S. Secret Service and IMPD later determined White had been distributing and receiving sexually explicit images of children, including infants and toddlers, since November 2023. Separately, another person reported in January 2024 that her Google account had been locked after uploads of child sexual abuse material occurred while White was using her phone, the outlet reported. White's device also contained text messages with sexually explicit images of other minors, according to the same account.
Forensic Analysis Uncovered Hundreds of Files
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children identified approximately 1,038 files on White's devices as known child sexual abuse material, using its hash-matching database that allows federal examiners to quickly flag previously cataloged abuse images, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Investigators went on to recover more than 600 additional images beyond those initial matches, and at least 13 files depicted violence or exploitation, per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, when White distributed the material online, he described abusing children to online contacts as if he had personally committed the acts — including making similar fictitious comments about images of the younger relative. Federal investigators later determined those online contacts were fictitious, but forensic analysis confirmed White had been actively trading explicit content for months.
Prior Conviction Triggered Mandatory Minimum
White was already a registered sex offender at the time of his March 2024 arrest, having been convicted in 2016 of child exploitation and possession of child sexual abuse material. That prior conviction mattered legally: under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A, defendants with a prior state or federal sex offense conviction who are convicted of distributing or receiving CSAM face enhanced statutory mandatory minimum sentences starting at 15 years, which explains why White's ultimate sentence exceeded that floor.
White was convicted of distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, who became the first African-American federal judge in Indiana's history when she was appointed in June 2010. Pratt previously served as a Marion County Superior Court judge in Indianapolis and led the Southern District of Indiana as chief judge from March 2021 through July 2025, according to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Officials Point to Broader Federal Effort
The prosecution was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to coordinate federal, state, and local resources against online child exploitation and co-led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. “Protecting children from exploitation is one of our most critical responsibilities,” said Tom Wheeler, adding that those who victimize children through abuse or distribution of child sexual abuse material will be held accountable. Ike Barnes said individuals who exploit children through child sexual abuse material must be held accountable.
The $270,000 restitution order stems from the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018, which amended 18 U.S.C. § 2259 to set mandatory compensation standards for victims depicted in distributed media. For calendar year 2026, the federal defined monetary assistance payment rate for identified victims is set at $45,969. White will also be subject to lifetime supervised release, which imposes monitored internet use, mandatory sex offender treatment, and compliance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act once his prison term ends.
The sentencing adds to a string of recent federal cases in Indiana brought under the same initiative. Hoodline reported a Franklin repeat offender's 20-year term just a day before White's sentence was announced, and an Evansville man was sentenced to 15 years in a similar federal case in the Southern District of Indiana earlier the same week.
