A Salem man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty to receiving, distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material, following an FBI investigation into online networks used to trade the illegal content. Robert Andrew Arias will also spend 10 years on probation once his prison term ends and must register as a sex offender.
According to KPTV, Arias entered his guilty plea in August. The station, citing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon, reported the eight-year prison sentence along with the decade of probation that follows. Sources differ on Arias's age: KPTV identifies him as 38, while the Salem Reporter has identified him as 54.
FBI Traced Devices to December 2023 Seizure
The FBI investigated online networks used to trade child sexual abuse material as part of the case against Arias, per the same KPTV account. Federal investigators seized digital devices containing illicit content in December 2023, and the court has since confiscated all of the digital devices Arias used to access and share the material.
The case echoes a broader federal crackdown on child exploitation networks. In 2025, Internet Crimes Against Children task forces conducted nearly 347,000 investigations nationwide, leading to the arrest of more than 17,000 offenders, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Arias Tied to Nationwide Operation Restore Justice
A Salem man was among 205 people arrested in a sweeping nationwide operation targeting accused child sex predators, the Salem Reporter reported. The U.S. Department of Justice, District of Oregon said Robert Andrew Arias, 54, of Salem, was charged by indictment with distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography as part of that operation, and was arrested at his Salem residence on April 28, 2025, making his first federal court appearance the same day.
The Salem Reporter's account of the indictment alleged that the crimes occurred between October and December 2023 and included depictions of a child younger than 12.
U.S. Attorney Says Sentence Sends a Message
The U.S. attorney said the sentence sends a message that people who exploit children will be found and sent to federal prison, according to KPTV's reporting. A separate Justice Department announcement, unrelated to the facts of this case, described another Salem man sentenced to more than 21 years in federal prison for ordering live-streamed child sexual abuse material from child sex traffickers in the Philippines in exchange for money, underscoring the range of cases federal prosecutors in Oregon have pursued in this area.
