Danish man traveled to Fresno to rape child, prosecutors say. He was sentenced in court
A man from Denmark who expressed the desire to exploit children, including a newborn, for sex was sentenced in a Fresno courtroom on Tuesday of distributing child pornography, according to federal prosecutors.
Claus Svelmo Marcuslund, 59, of the Danish city of Odense, was sentenced to 14 years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release after he was convicted of one count of distribution of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced in a news release.
Marcuslund had traveled to Fresno in an effort to meet a mother who would aid him in raping a child and in having another child the man could also sexually assault, prosecutors said in July 2023.
He pleaded guilty on Feb. 20.
Prosecutors said he traveled by plane from Copenhagen to Los Angeles International Airport before making his way to Fresno Yosemite International Airport, where he was arrested on July 11, 2023.
Before traveling to the US, Marcusland had been speaking to what he believed was a mother with a 7-year-old child, prosecutors said. The conversation happened over the dark web on a website about pedophilia, and the person posing as the mother was an undercover agent.
“I’m Scandinavian, professional music producer/songwriter and lyricist and yeah, I’m also a pedophile,” Marcusland wrote in a message to the undercover agent, according to prosecutors.
“I’m divorced and now searching (for) a nice woman/mom to get to know better, hopefully with the potential of getting together in real life one day,” he also wrote. “Obviously, she must be 100% supportive of pedophilia and incest.”
He wrote messages over several months in which he described in graphic detail what he wanted to do to a child, prosecutors said.
He sent between 300 and 600 images of adults sexually abusing young children, according to prosecutors.
“To vindicate victims of child exploitation and bring criminals to justice, our law enforcement and our communities must work together in partnership across county, state, and national borders,” Talbert said in the news release.
