A Kansas man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for producing child pornography after exploiting a minor he met while playing an online video game, federal prosecutors in Arkansas announced.
Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, said Marcus Abeyta, 32, of Emporia, Kansas, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Kristine G. Baker to 180 months in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
Abeyta was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 4, 2024, on one count of production of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to the charge on February 26, 2025.
According to investigators, the case began on December 4, 2023, when the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations in Arkansas was notified by a parent—an active-duty Air Force member—who discovered sexually explicit and inappropriate conversations on their minor child’s iPad.
Authorities determined that on December 5, 2023, while the minor was interacting with others through an online video game, Abeyta sent the child a link encouraging them to leave the game and communicate on another platform, Discord. During those communications, Abeyta made sexually explicit comments, requested images of the child’s private body parts, and offered money and in-game currency in exchange for nude images. Investigators confirmed Abeyta knew the victim was a minor at the time of the offenses.
The case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. The program coordinates federal, state, and local resources to identify victims and prosecute offenders. Parents and guardians are encouraged to closely monitor children’s online activity. Additional information is available at ProjectSafeChildhood.gov.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kristin Bryant.
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