Updated Thursday, Aug. 13 at 9:25 a.m.
ANCHORAGE – A former network manager for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation was indicted Wednesday on 76 counts of possessing and distributing child pornography.
An Anchorage grand jury indicted Gene Geisler, 38, based on allegations he distributed images of child sexual exploitation to an undercover investigator while he was living in Bethel and worked at YKHC, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Law.
A warrant was issued for his arrest with bail set at $200,000 plus a court-approved, third-party custodian. Wednesday evening, Geisler was located and arrested in Goose Creek, South Carolina, where he was held pending extradition, according to an Alaska State Troopers dispatch posted Thursday morning.
According to troopers, search warrants were served at Geisler’s Bethel home and work in September 2014 after an investigation into child porn distribution in Alaska. Assistant Attorney General Adam Alexander noted the quantity of counts is unusual.
Geisler is accused of using the YKHC hospital’s network infrastructure “to further his own illicit criminal activities,” the DOL statement says. Beyond Bethel, YKHC administers health care to several rural communities in southwest Alaska.
In all, Geisler is alleged to have had about 29 terabytes of child erotica or child sexual exploitation made up of two million images and at least 13,000 videos, prosecutors say.
Eleven of the counts stem from videos Geisler allegedly shared with an Alaska Bureau of Investigation investigator in Anchorage. Fifty-six counts of possession of child pornography comprise a “representative sample” of “56 known victims and series identified in Geisler’s collection by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,” the DOL statement says.
The nine remaining counts of distribution of child pornography are based on Geisler’s alleged possession of at least nine digital devices that had more than 100 images of child sexual exploitation.
Alexander says none of the victims are from the Bethel area. In a statement, YKHC says Geisler has not worked for the health care provider for almost a year.
“YKHC has been fully cooperating with authorities and continue to investigate this matter internally,” the statement says. “None of YKHC’s patient data, or other sensitive information has been compromised.”
If found guilty, Geisler faces a maximum sentence of 99 years.
