This story has been updated to note the term “child pornography,” which Funderburk was arrested for in 2021, was changed to “child sexual abuse material” in state law by the Alaska Legislature last year.
A Juneau man who pleaded guilty Feb. 14 to charges related to child sexual abuse material that originated four years ago was arrested 11 days after that plea on similar new charges, according to police and court records.
Taylor Patrick Funderburk, 25, was arrested without incident at his home on Feb. 25 after an investigation that began in November about a photo uploaded to a WhatsApp account in his name, according to affidavit with the same date as the arrest by Richard Chambers, an Alaska State Troopers investigator. The photo contained explicit content including pre-pubescent female.
Funderburk previously faced 21 charges in the 2021 case, including multiple charges each of exploitation of a minor by making pornography, possessing child pornography and soliciting explicit photos from a minor, according to the Alaska Court System’s online database. He pleaded guilty last month to three charges — one of soliciting pictures, one of possessing child sexual abuse material and one for criminal use of a computer — and all of the other charges were dismissed except a misdemeanor count of violating conditions of release for a felony.
A bill passed last year by the Alaska Legislature and signed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in October changes the term “child pornography” to “child sexual abuse material.”
Attempts by the Empire to contact Funderburk through the WhatsApp number listed in court documents (which is now out of service) and via the public defender’s office which is representing him were unsuccessful as of early Monday evening.
Funderburk had felony first appearance in the new case at the Juneau Courthouse Feb. 26 on charges of first-degree distribution of child sexual abuse material (a class B felony), possessing child sexual abuse material (a class C felony) and violating conditions of release for a felony (a class A misdemeanor). Preliminary hearings are scheduled March 7 and 18.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
