The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested the chief of staff to Alaska state Sen. George Rauscher after a federal grand jury indictment accused him of sex trafficking minors.
Craig Scott Valdez, 36, was taken into custody in Juneau on Friday. Prosecutors allege he used social media to target underage girls and are investigating whether at least 11 additional juveniles across Alaska may have been affected.
Court records state that Valdez, who identifies on his LinkedIn profile as serving as a chief of staff in the Alaska Legislature over the past year, used the messaging platform Snapchat to locate, groom and entice juvenile females in Alaska for sexual exploitation.
Responding to the arrest of his chief of staff, George Rauscher said he was notified Friday after federal authorities had already acted.
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“I was informed today of the arrest of a member of my staff in a federal investigation involving extremely serious charges,” Rauscher, R-Sutton, told in a press release, at 6:22 p.m. “I learned of this matter after law enforcement action was taken and then from the press. I trust the Department of Justice to handle this appropriately.”
Rauscher described the development as unexpected and confirmed that the staff member is no longer employed in his office.
“This is a shock to my office. The employee was terminated,” he added. “I do not have anything more to say, other than we need the justice system to take its course as the process continues.”
Newly unsealed court records outline additional allegations against Craig Scott Valdez, describing an encounter that investigators say was arranged through Snapchat.
According to the documents, Valdez coordinated with a juvenile to pick them up from their family’s home and drove them to his residence on Endicott Street in Anchorage. Prosecutors allege the meeting was intended for sexual exploitation and that it took place on Valdez’s birthday.
The situation came to light when the minor’s sibling alerted their mother. Using a family tracking application, she traced the juvenile’s location to Valdez’s home. When she arrived, she reported hearing the minor inside saying they wanted to leave. The mother entered the residence and struck Valdez once in the face before taking the juvenile out of the home, court filings state.
Records indicate the minor showed signs of severe intoxication and struggled to walk or remain conscious.
Officers with the Anchorage Police Department arrived shortly afterward. By then, according to court documents, Valdez had fled the residence.
Investigators say the events of that night continued to unfold after the mother brought her child home.
Once there, she realized the juvenile’s cellphone had been left behind at Valdez’s residence. Using a linked iPad, she accessed the minor’s Snapchat account and took screenshots of exchanges with a user identified as “noname20233132,” who referred to himself as “Big Daddy Griffin.” According to a law enforcement memo, the messages show Valdez encouraging the juvenile to meet him for sexual purposes. As the mother reviewed the conversation, it appeared the account holder was trying to erase the messages and block the minor.
Later that morning, the mother took the juvenile to a hospital for a forensic sexual assault examination. Detectives with the Crimes Against Children Unit of the Anchorage Police Department interviewed both the minor and the mother. Authorities say each identified Valdez as the person at the Endicott Street home.
The juvenile told investigators they had first been introduced to Valdez by other children about a year earlier, suggesting the initial contact may have occurred when the minor was 13 or 14, according to the memo.
The Alaska State Crime Lab later identified a DNA sample collected from the minor. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has since obtained a warrant to collect Valdez’s DNA for comparison.
Federal prosecutors have charged Craig Scott Valdez with four felony counts: sex trafficking of children; sexual exploitation of children through the production of child pornography; coercion and enticement of children; and sexual exploitation of a child involving the receipt of child pornography.
If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to life in federal prison. Any sentence would be determined by a federal district court judge after weighing U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Valdez is scheduled to make his initial appearance on Feb. 23, 2026, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kyle F. Reardon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. Prosecutors have asked the court to keep him in custody while the case proceeds, arguing that no release conditions would reasonably ensure community safety.
In a detention memo filed Friday, prosecutors described Valdez as a “compulsive child exploitation offender” engaged in “high-volume conduct” involving minors as young as 13. Although the indictment centers on one alleged victim tied to an incident in October 2025, investigators say a preliminary review of his communications points to a broader pattern.
Authorities cited activity on Snapchat accounts under the usernames “noname20233132” and “dochank,” along with transactions on Cash App, as evidence that at least 11 additional juveniles may have been targeted in Anchorage and Juneau. Court filings allege Valdez used the payment platform to pay, or attempt to pay, minors to engage in prostitution and to create child sexual abuse material at his direction.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Alaska Senate Minority Leader Mike Cronk, R-Tok/Northway, confirmed Friday that Valdez is no longer employed by the Legislature. He described the allegations and arrest as “shocking.”