SCRANTON — The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Christopher Foster, age 31, a resident of Moscow, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on November 14, 2025, to over 17 years in prison by Senior United States District Judge Malachy E. Mannion, for attempted production of child pornography.

According to the United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, between December 23, 2022, and December 27, 2023, Foster communicated with a 12-year-old child and a 13-year-old child via X-Box, video calls, and various social media platforms.  Over the course of a year, Foster directed the children to take and remit sexually explicit images of themselves in exchange for “V-Bucks,” an in-game currency utilized to purchase tokens in the video game Fortnite.  On December 27, 2023, a search warrant was executed at Foster’s residence and electronic devices, including computers, cellular telephones, and a gaming device belonging to Foster were seized and analyzed. In total, thousands of images of child sexual abuse material, including images and videos of the 12-year-old child engaging in sexually explicit conduct were recovered from Foster’s devices.

Foster admitted to communicating with the child victims and requesting sexually explicit images from them.  Upon receiving the requested images and videos, he admitted to distributing the material on the dark web.     

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Philadelphia Division, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorney Tatum R. Wilson prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.