Former Fairbanks teacher indicted, arrested on child exploitation charges

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - A former Fairbanks teacher was arrested yesterday after a federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment charging him with sexually exploiting a child to produce and possess child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).

According to court documents, beginning on an unknown date and continuing until Aug. 25, 2023, Skyler Evans, 34, coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct with the intention of producing visuals of that conduct. The indictment also alleges that beginning on an unknown date and continuing until March 25, 2025, Evans possessed and attempted to possess CSAM.

Evans is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child - production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The defendant is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on May, 4^th, 2026 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. If convicted, he faces between 15 and 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska and Special Agent in Charge Matthew Schlegel of the FBI Anchorage Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Anchorage Field Office is investigating the case, with assistance from the Fairbanks Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Vosacek is prosecuting 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 the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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