A 25-year-old Canadian man from Montreal, Shenur Gurkov, has been sentenced to six and a half years in a US prison after being convicted of possessing and smuggling child sexual abuse material (CSAM) across the border.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, law enforcement officials discovered shocking illegal content on the defendant’s mobile phone. In a plea agreement, Gurkov admitted that he was carrying over 700 files depicting child sexual abuse when he crossed the US-Canada border at the Alexandria Bay Port of Entry in New York in August 2025. Assistant US Attorney Ben Gillis prosecuted the case as part of “Project Safe Childhood,” a national initiative dedicated to combatting the sexual exploitation and abuse of children.
Anthony Patrone, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), emphasized that the 700+ files smuggled across the border were not merely digital contraband, but represented severe trauma inflicted on young victims, which compounds every time such images and videos are redistributed.
Investigators revealed that Gurkov spent years collecting the illicit material using social media platforms and foreign-based file-sharing applications before attempting to enter the United States. He was sentenced by a US court on September 15. Law enforcement officials affirmed that the conviction reinforces their commitment to stopping the spread of CSAM and seeking justice for victims.
