Crime & Courts

Anchorage man sentenced for child porn, says he is focused on treatment

During a half-hour statement Friday, Stuart Ravn said he sought professional treatment for his compulsion to download child pornography. Handing down a nearly six-year sentence, Superior Court Judge Jack Smith said he recognized the defendant's intentions but added that it is important to deter people from committing similar crimes.

Ravn, 26, was found guilty in July on 22 counts related to possession and distribution of child porn.

Ravn's sentence is 69 months, though with "good time" served he may be out in 43 months. The sentence is four years fewer than the state had recommended. The maximum allowed under state law is 44.

"I take responsibility for possessing these ... depictions," Ravn said Friday in court. During his statement, frequently interrupted by long pauses, he appeared to struggle to speak. "They're all transgressions against children's moments of shame and misery. I have had a hard time living with myself knowing those things are in my head."

Assistant attorney general Adam Alexander previously said trial evidence indicated Ravn was a member of a Russian child pornography ring. Ravn possessed and distributed videos and images of children, some as young as toddlers. Several of the images depicted masochism and sadism involving the children, he said.

Ravn gave music lessons to children out of his parents' home, according to Alexander. Investigators found nothing to suggest the defendant abused any of his students, he said.

In court Friday, with his family sitting behind the defense table, Ravn said he had started to look at child porn when he himself was a child. But he never stopped. It "messed me up in the head," Ravn said.

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According to the state's sentencing affidavit, Ravn disclosed to a treatment provider that he had downloaded tens of thousands of child porn materials for at least a decade. The provider told investigators, according to the state, that Ravn said he "actively fantasized about children he knows and the children to whom he taught music lessons."

The provider said that statement and another were "a bit of a concern," according to the affidavit.

Ravn said he had been working with the psychotherapist for several months before deciding to disclose "what was really going on." He said the statements have been blown out of proportion. Ravn contends he only knew one child at that time and that he dug deep to share thoughts that troubled him.

"I tried for many years to change my behavior with respect to the materials that got me here," Ravn said, thumbing through the pages of a yellow legal pad, his hands' movements impeded by black handcuffs. He said he did not think he could "keep pounding that brick wall" by himself.

Following the sentencing, Alexander said the state has a different perspective on the evidence. Ravn boasted about his collection of illegal materials, according to the affidavit. Still, Alexander said he applauds anyone with an addiction, from child porn to drugs, for seeking treatment.

Judge Smith made rehabilitation the focus of his sentence. Numerous probation conditions will give Ravn incentive to follow through with treatment, he said. Smith recognized Ravn's efforts but he said deterrence of similar offenders was a priority.

There seem to be more instances of child porn cases statewide, Smith said. He contended the Internet has made the materials easily available and law enforcement's methods for catching perpetrators have improved.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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