Attorney General: Seven sentenced for child exploitation; Three from Bonneville County face decades in prison
Seth Ratliff
BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) — In the last two months, seven individuals, including three from Bonneville County, were sentenced to prison after being convicted of crimes against children, Attorney General Raúl Labrador announced Tuesday.
Cristian Escalera-Maldonado, Trustin McMurphy, and Matthew Dudley, each of Bonneville County, were sentenced in three cases as part of the investigation and enforcement efforts by the Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit in collaboration with local law enforcement.
“I’m proud of our ICAC prosecutors and investigators, as well as our local law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly to bring these individuals to justice and deliver sentences that protect Idaho families from this evil,” said Attorney General Labrador in a news release. “Their hard work and dedication is resulting in the arrest and sentencing of dangerous criminals from our communities and ensuring children across our state are safer.”
Bonneville County Case Background
Cristian Escalera-Maldonado
Cristian Escalera-Maldonado, 32, received a twelve-year sentence from District Judge Dane H. Watkins on December 1, 2025. His conviction followed a tip to the Idaho Falls Police Department detailing the abuse of a group of minors.
In December 2024, IFPD received a call from a child reporting that Maldonado had abused them and two other children. According to court documents, Maldonado provided alcohol, marijuana, and vapes to three minor children and sexually abused them. He also recorded a portion of the sexual abuse on his phone.
On Sunday, December 22, 2024, investigators with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office and the Idaho Falls Police Department serving in the Attorney General’s ICAC Unit arrested Maldonado at his home in Bonneville County. He was originally charged with four (4) counts of sexual battery of a minor 16 or 17 years old, one (1) count of lewd conduct with a minor under sixteen, one (1) count of sexual exploitation by production of child sexual abuse material, and one (1) count of sexual exploitation by possession of child sexual abuse material.
In September 2025, Maldonado pleaded guilty to two counts of Sexual Battery of a Minor Child Sixteen or Seventeen Years of Age and one count of Lewd and Lascivious Conduct with a Minor Child Under Sixteen. Judge Watkins sentenced Maldonado to a total sentence of twelve years with ten years fixed and two years indeterminate.
Trustin McMurphy
In a separate case, 20-year-old Trustin McMurphy was sentenced to fifteen years in prison following a CyberTip that alerted authorities to possible child pornography on his digital devices.
In January of 2024, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on McMurphey’s home, where they discovered numerous files depicting young children in graphic situations. According to court documents, many of these files depicted young girls ranging from ages two to fourteen years old, some of which depicted children engaged in sexual acts with adult men.
McMurphy was charged with 10 counts of felony willfully possessing or accepting Child Pornography. In November of last year, McMurphy pleaded guilty to two counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child by Possession of Sexually Exploitative Material.
Matthew Dudley
Finally, 39-year-old Matthew Dudley was sentenced to thirty years in prison after a Microsoft Bing Images CyberTip led investigators to his home last August.
After obtaining search warrants, investigators uncovered approximately 2,000 files of child pornography featuring victims as young as one year old, many of which depicted children being sexually abused, according to court documents.
RELATED: Three men in East Idaho arrested for child exploitation charges
On January 20, 2026, District Judge Jason Walker sentenced Dudley to a term including six fixed years and twenty-four years indeterminate.
For more information on the four additional sentences as part of the Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit’s enforcement efforts, click HERE.
