Bemidji man found guilty of distributing child pornography on the dark web

DULUTH — A Bemidji man has been found guilty of advertising, distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material using a dark web site.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Craig James Myran, 47, was an active participant in a dark web website dedicated to discussing and trading child sexual abuse material.

Over the years, Miran used an account with a unique username to post more than a thousand posts on the site, including at least one post in which he requested certain files of child sexual abuse material from other users, and another post in which he in which he distributed child sexual abuse materials. insult the materials of other users.

According to court documents, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents executed a search warrant at Miran’s Bemidji apartment in December 2022, where they found several hard drives and a cellphone.

A forensic examination of these devices revealed evidence linking Myran to his unique dark website account, including files of child sexual abuse material he shared and requested on the website, as well as a message directed at him unique nickname.

A federal jury found Meeran guilty Wednesday after a three-day trial on two counts of promoting child pornography, one count of distributing child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

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.

Project Safe Childhood, led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and CEOS, brings together federal, state and local resources to more effectively detect, apprehend and prosecute those who exploit children online and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit

justice.gov/psc.

This case was the result of an investigation by the FBI.