A U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after admitting he posed as a woman online to manipulate a minor into producing sexually explicit videos. Bebak Gurung, described as 22 years old, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor for production of child pornography, and investigators say the scheme unraveled only after a search of his Army barracks turned up evidence tied to a second child victim.
According to KMBC, the investigation began in 2025 after the FBI received information that a child in New York had been victimized through various online messaging platforms. Court records cited by the station say Gurung pretended to be a woman to gain the victim's trust, then instructed the minor to produce videos while engaged in sexually explicit conduct, all while he was stationed at Fort Riley.
FBI agents executed a search warrant at Gurung's barracks on the base and seized several of his electronic devices, the station reports. That search turned up CSAM, or child sexual abuse material, along with evidence leading investigators to a second minor victim in Kansas, according to the same account.
Prosecutors Say Deception Was Central to the Crime
U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser said Gurung lied to his victims about being female specifically to more easily gain their trust, per the KMBC report. Kriegshauser also said children should be taught that online identities can be deceptive, and credited parents for reporting the conduct to authorities, which allowed it to be exposed and stopped.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse. A Justice Department quarterly update on cases prosecuted under that initiative also referenced Gurung's guilty plea, though it listed his age as 26, conflicting with the 22-year-old age cited in the KMBC report; the discrepancy was not resolved in available records. The Justice Department confirmed the 40-year sentence for coaxing minors into producing child sexual abuse material.
A Pattern Seen in Other Military Cases
Gurung's case is not an isolated one within the ranks. Earlier this year, a former soldier stationed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, Issac James Guinsler, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for child sexual abuse material possession, according to the Justice Department's Eastern District of Virginia office. In that case, investigators interviewed two minor victims, ages 13 and 16, and court documents said Guinsler coerced them into sexual activity and the exchange of explicit images, as reported by WAVY. WAVY reported that investigators recovered roughly 300 images and videos, including 297 images and three videos. That case was investigated jointly by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI's Washington Field Office and the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office, and was likewise prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, which the Justice Department launched in May 2006.
Exploitation Reports Are Climbing Nationally
Cases like Gurung's are surfacing against a backdrop of sharply rising numbers nationwide. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline received 1.4 million reports concerning online enticement in 2025, including more than 80,000 reports concerning sextortion, according to NCMEC. Online enticement reports jumped 158% compared with 2024, and reports of child sex trafficking climbed 323% over the same period, the organization says. NCMEC also logged an average of 137 financial-sextortion reports per day last year, a 37% increase, and escalated more than 53,000 urgent or imminent-danger reports to law enforcement.
FBI officials involved in the Gurung investigation framed the case as part of a broader, ongoing effort. Chris Ormerod said protecting children from online predators remains an FBI priority and that offenders will be identified, investigated and held accountable, according to the KMBC report. Ormerod added that the FBI and its law enforcement partners will continue pursuing offenders to protect vulnerable people and bring them to justice.
