CASPER — A 59-year-old Casper man who allegedly told Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents that he was collecting child pornography on his cellphone so he could report it to Facebook and local police now faces six felonies for those videos, as well as drug charges.
Mark Anthony Chanez appeared in Casper Circuit Court on Thursday on six counts of sexual exploitation of children and three of possession of a controlled substance for a third or subsequent offense. The drug charges are also felonies.
Court records show DCI agents received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on April 2 that alleged a Google account had uploaded 190 files of “apparent child pornography.”
Records show a search warrant resulted in the discovery of 48 files depicting child pornography that included videos of adults involved in sex acts with children and at least 1,083 files depicting child erotica.
Agents obtained a search warrant for Chanez’s person and vehicle and executed them on Nov. 20.
“Chanez was reluctant to be truthful with agents regarding his involvement with child pornography, and his story changed several times cellphone through the interview,” the arrest affidavit states. “Chanez initially provided the wrong passcode to his (phone). … Chavez later provided the correct passcode.”
Cellphone Search
Searches of Chanez’s cellphone found six videos of children in sex acts, among those were a young female being sexually penetrated by an adult male, a young female performing a sex act on an adult male, and a young female acting out sexually while performing a sex act on an adult male.
Agents also discovered a folder labeled “girls” on the cellphone that contained another 70 files of “prepubescent females engaged in sexual acts” as well as several files of child erotica,” the affidavit states.
“Chanez claimed he had been collecting the child pornography files specifically from Facebook so that Chanez could report those files to Facebook,” the affidavit states.
Chanez also told agents that he had attempted to report child pornography files to the Casper Police Department a few weeks ago. A search of Casper police records showed Chanez’s last contact with the department was March 2024 when he dialed 911 for a welfare call.
“Chanez had no call involvements whatsoever in the local police database regarding him ever attempting to report child pornography files,” the affidavit states.
The affidavit states Chanez also tried to tell agents that videos and images on his phone were “planted” by someone else.
DCI agents interviewed his girlfriend who said that he would never leave his phone alone, unless it was to use the bathroom, and often took it with him into the restroom. His cellphone was password protected, she told agents, the affidavit states.
Meth, Marijuana And Mushrooms
While executing the search warrant on Chanez, agents also found controlled substances in his living room that included small packages of methamphetamine, small packages of psilocybin mushrooms and 13.5 grams of marijuana.
Chanez “admitted” the drugs inside the residence belonged to him, the affidavit states.
Each of the six counts of sexual exploitation of children carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The three counts of possession of a controlled substance are punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine or both.
Chanez’s bond was set at $75,000 cash or surety.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
