Idaho man indicted on federal charges of child sexual abuse in Haines

An Idaho man was recently indicted on a federal charge alleging he coerced a minor to create child pornography in Haines.

Christopher Panagiotou-Scigliano, 39, is also facing several charges in Idaho state court for sexual abuse of multiple children, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Alaska wrote in an online statement.

Panagiotou-Scigliano had been grooming and sexually abusing at least three children in Idaho before he moved to Haines in 2015, according to a memorandum filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Klugman. After arriving in Alaska, Panagiotou-Scigliano arranged for the underage victims to visit him in Haines, where he coerced one of them to produce child pornography, the statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The abuse continued for years and the federal charge is the result of abuse that happened during 2019, according to the memorandum.

One of the victims disclosed the abuse in March 2020, according to a report from the Bonner County Daily Bee in Idaho. In September, Panagiotou-Scigliano was arrested at the Chilkat Lake landing in Haines on the Idaho state court charges, according to a news release at the time from the Haines Borough Police Department.

He was extradited to Idaho at the time and has since been ordered to return to Alaska to face the federal charges, according to court records.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Alaska asked the public to call the FBI office in Anchorage at 907-276-4441 with reports any further information about Panagiotou-Scigliano’s activities.