Ketchikan Man Behind ‘Anything Goes’ Child Pornography Material Ring Gets 13 Years

Warning: This story contains details of sexual abuse.

A Ketchikan man was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for running an online group that distributed child sexual abuse material.

Judge Timothy Burgess of U.S. District Court in Juneau handed down the sentence to 46-year-old Walter Onstad last Wednesday. Onstad pleaded guilty in early 2023 to one felony count of distributing child pornography.

Alaska District Attorney S. Lane Tucker said in a written statement Wednesday that Onstad was responsible for sharing hundreds of child sexual abuse images through a Kik messaging group called “Anything Goes.”

Onstad was the administrator of the group chat “Anything Goes”. In 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from Kik – the messaging site the pedophile group used – that Onstad had sent a dozen images and videos of adult men sexually abusing minors under the age of 12. Some were babies. and toddlers.

Investigators then learned that when new members wanted to join the group, they would provide Onstad with images of child sexual abuse. Onstad then personally verified them, uploaded them to the group chat and granted the new members access to the group.

During the investigation, Onstad admitted to helping distribute more than 600 illegal images through the private messaging group and blogging site Tumblr. Police say he was in possession of more than 300 images and videos when they seized his phone.

The charge against Onstad concerns the distribution of child pornography. The state originally pursued charges of illegally possessing the pirated images on Onstad’s phone. These charges were dismissed, although Onstad could be charged again in the future.

It is unclear if other charges will come from the ‘Anything Goes’ group. Tucker said the district attorney’s office will continue to hold people like Onstad accountable for the “incalculable harm they caused.”