Former Church Intern Sentenced for Sharing Child Sexual Abuse Material

TULSA, Okla. - A Sand Springs man was sentenced for Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

U.S. District Judge Terence Kern sentenced Austin Ryder Sewell, 25, to 174 months imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Upon his release, Sewell will also be required to register as a sex offender. Judge Kern further ordered
Sewell to pay $15,500 in restitution. That money goes directly to the victims identified in the child sexual abuse material that Sewell possessed.

Court records show that between March and July 2025, the social media application, Kik, submitted more than 10 cyber tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The reports indicated that Sewell was sharing videos that contained the sexual abuse of children. The investigation showed that Sewell had multiple Kik accounts and had been encouraging others to join chat groups focused on exchanging child pornography. During the investigation, law enforcement found that Sewell's Facebook profile identified him as an intern at a church in Tulsa.

Law enforcement found several chats on Kik where Sewell discussed sexual interest in children with other users.
Among those chats, they found more than 98 videos and 24 images showing children, infants, and toddlers being sexually abused. The child sexual abuse material found was sent to NCMEC's Child Victim Identification Program. They helped identify at least five known victims.

Sewell will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Robert prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.