A 45-year-old Knoxville man has been sentenced to 420 months—or 35 years—in federal prison followed by lifetime supervision and sex offender registration requirements.

U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan handed down the sentence on October 14, 2026, against Christopher Michael Anderson. The sentencing follows a plea agreement in which Anderson pleaded guilty to three counts of exploitation of a child, one count of attempted exploitation of a child, and one count of distribution of child pornography.

According to court documents, the investigation—conducted jointly by the FBI and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office—revealed that between December 2018 and January 2022, Anderson sexually exploited nine children ranging in age from under two to eleven years old, including his own grandchild. He also possessed 138 additional images of child pornography, which he exchanged over the internet with co-defendants Amanda Eggers and Brittany Anderson regarding their minor children.

Co-defendants Eggers and Brittany Anderson are scheduled for sentencing before Judge Varlan on November 18, 2026, and February 11, 2027, respectively.

The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kolman. The case was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to marshal federal, state, and local resources in combating child sexual exploitation and abuse.