#‘Happy Scientist’ YouTuber arrested for child pornography

John Robert Krampf, also known as the Happy Scientist on YouTube, was arrested in St. George, Utah, last week on 10 felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after police found “thousands upon thousands” of pornographic child images in his possession, St. George News reports. 

The 64-year-old YouTube personality was indicted last Thursday on one count of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. Krampf reportedly admitted to using several online file-sharing programs to download the illegal content as recently as August 2020. In the indictment, investigators say the material they uncovered on Krampf’s computer involved children under the age of 12.

Krampf has produced and narrated over 100 educational videos that break down various scientific topics and are geared toward children. His channel has amassed slightly over 8,000 subscribers, and his recent videos have earned anywhere from a couple hundred to tens of thousands of views. (His first-ever upload, from six years ago, has generated 3.3 million views.) 

Krampf was one of dozens of St. George residents arrested as the result of a three-day sting operation that police conducted earlier this month after learning of a Craigslist ad implying that email responders could spend time with a child. Police seized 20 hard drives from Krampf’s home, one of which had four terabytes of storage. They sent the material to the FBI, to whom Krampf had also allegedly sent abusive material via the dark web during an undercover operation conducted by the agency.

If convicted of the current charges against him, Krampf faces at least five years in federal prison.

Today’s top stories