Baltimore Teacher Convicted of Federal Sexploitation, Child Pornography Charges

Baltimore teacher Christopher Kenji Bendann, 40, was convicted of five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor to produce child pornography, three counts of possession of child pornography and one count of cyberstalking, all involving a teenage male student, District of Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron reported in a press release.

Bendann was federally indicted on Aug. 16, 2023 on nine charges related to child sex abuse. A federal jury found Bendann guilty of all nine counts, according to the signed verdict.

Christopher Bendann’s LinkedIn account listed him as a “Middle School Geography teacher” from August 2007 to January 2023 at the Gilman School, a K-12 prep school in Baltimore. He has a Bachelor of Arts in History and Classics from Skidmore University, according to his profile.

‘A Monster’ Who Has ‘Destroyed Families’

Baltimore attorney Steve Silverman, who represents the teenage victim in a civil lawsuit, told a local news station last August that Bendann “is a monster. He has lost the trust of the entire community. He has sucked the souls out of multiple young men and has destroyed families.”

In the Aug. 29 press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said trial testimony showed Bendann produced multiple videos of a minor male engaged in sexually explicit conduct from Sept. 16, 2017, to Feb. 9, 2019, when the boy was 16 and 17 years old. He stored the videos on his iCloud account.

Sexually Blackmailing Victims

Between May and December 2022, Bendann sent electronic messages to a victim, demanding contact and for the boy to send explicit images to Bendann. The teacher threatened to release the sexually explicit images publicly if he refused, according to prosecutors.

Bendann will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar on Jan. 21, 2025. Statutorily, he faces a minimum sentence of 15 years up to a maximum sentence of 30 years for each count of sexual exploitation to produce child pornography. Judges can order sentences to run consecutively – one after the other – or concurrently. For those five offenses, the sentence could range from 15 years to 150 years in prison.

The convicted predator also faces up to 10 years per count for possession of child pornography and five years for cyberstalking.

This case is part of the Department of Justice’s nationwide Project Safe Childhood, an initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The campaign combines the resources of federal, state and local agencies to locate, arrest and prosecute those who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims, Barron said in the press release.

State Prosecutor Dismisses Charges

Bendann was initially arrested on state criminal charges on Feb. 3, 2023, and indicted on 16 sex-related counts later that month. Those charges included second-degree rape of a juvenile.
The Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office told The Daily Muck the state charges “were nolle prossed when the feds brought their case.”

Nolle prosse, or nolle prosequi, is a legal term meaning the prosecutor has decided to abandon the case’s prosecution.

Federal Indictment

The predator was indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 16, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported last year. That indictment, reviewed by The Daily Muck, alleged Bendann “persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced a minor victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct so that a visual depiction of that conduct could be produced and transmitted.” It describes multiple sexually explicit videos on Bendann’s iCloud account and electronic devices, including those “depicting the minor victim’s genitals” and “depicting the defendant touching (the) minor victim’s genitals.”

The Baltimore County Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit began its investigation in January 2023. Baltimore police officers arrested Bendann on Feb. 3, 2023, on several state crimes, including sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree rape.

In a Feb. 3, 2023 press release, authorities said they notified Child Protective Services that Bendann, an 8th-grade history teacher at the private all-boys Gilman School, “had been terminated for inappropriate and suspicious relationships with current and former students.”

Sexploitation Epidemic

“Sexploitation” has reached epidemic proportions in this nation. The FBI is mounting a concerted effort to prevent, combat, and ensure justice is served in dealing with this crime.

“The FBI has seen a huge increase in the number of cases involving children and teens being threatened and coerced into sending explicit images online — a crime called sextortion,” the agency states on its website.

This crime is usually set in motion when “young people believe they are communicating with someone their own age who is interested in a relationship or with someone who is offering something of value,” the FBI message continues. “After the criminals have one or more videos or pictures, they threaten to publish that content, or they threaten violence, to get the victim to produce more images. The shame, fear, and confusion children feel when they are caught in this cycle often prevents them from asking for help or reporting the abuse.”

A “close cousin” to this crime is what the FBI calls “financial sextortion.” It’s just what the moniker entails – “Give me money or else.”

“In these cases, the offender receives sexually explicit material from the child and then threatens to release the compromising material unless the victim sends money and/or gift cards,” the FBI said. “The amount requested varies, and the offender often releases the victim’s sexually explicit material regardless of whether or not they receive payment.”

A tragic result of this crime is “an alarming number of deaths by suicide,” the agency warns.

The Daily Muck has covered sextortion in several stories, including one on how it contributes to adolescent suicide.

The FBI said those being exploited should report it by calling their local FBI field office, 1-800-CALL-FBI, or online at tips.fbi.gov.