Former Air Force Maj. Peter Christopher Davis, 36, was sentenced Friday to three years in prison on a consolidated child porn possession charge. A Superior Court judge granted the sentence recommended by the state, which argued Davis misrepresented his crimes to friends and family.
Davis received a sentence of six years with three suspended. Assistant attorney general Adam Alexander asked for one year more than the mandatory minimum. He said imposing less time would downplay the damage caused by child pornography.
Davis characterized his interest in child porn as "nothing more than morbid curiosity," Alexander said. The state found that troubling, he said, because it shows Davis' failure to address his pedophilia and a potential unwillingness to undergo treatment.
The prosecutor said that characterization was reflected in letters of support for Davis given to the court.
"He has presented himself as a victim but that could not be farther from the truth," Alexander said.
Davis was arrested in August 2012 after sending child porn to undercover Anchorage police investigators over a file-sharing program. Police obtained search warrants for Davis' home and seized three devices -- two laptops and an external hard drive -- containing hundreds of images.
He entered into a plea agreement in May 2014 for a single, consolidated possession charge. He originally faced 37 counts for possession and distribution of child sexual exploitation videos and images.
Previously the assistant director of operations for the 3rd Operations Support Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Davis recently received a dishonorable discharge from the military, according to court testimony.
Defense attorney Steven Wells said he was not trying to suggest with the "morbid curiosity" designation that Davis' downloading of child porn was a mistake or an accident. He argued that his client's overarching goal was the collection of a large amount of porn. Materials containing child sexual exploitation were a "small portion," he said.
Davis was downloading "staggering amounts of other porn," Wells said. "Gigabytes and gigabytes."
He asked the judge to impose a sentence of two years.
Davis told the judge before his sentence was handed down that he accepted responsibility for his actions. He said he downloaded child porn and saved it on his computer.
"I put myself in this position," he said. "I am not the person they are trying to portray me as. … Porn is not something I want in my life anymore. It's destroyed everything I hold dear."
Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby still must decide if he will order restitution in the case. The state identified five victims through a national clearinghouse in the materials Davis had downloaded.
Davis' case was the first of its kind in which state prosecutors asked the court to impose restitution to known child porn victims.