Mom Rescues 15-Year-Old Daughter Allegedly Drugged & Targeted By Rauscher's Chief Of Staff
SAVED BY MOM George Rauscher's chief of staff arrested on sex trafficking and child exploitation charges from the alaska beacon BY: C...
SAVED BY MOM
George Rauscher's chief of staff arrested on sex trafficking and child exploitation charges
Craig Scott Valdez (left) and an image of his Snapchat avatar he allegedly used to solicit minors for sexual exploitation. (Photo courtesy of the US Attorneys Office, District of Alaska in charging documents)
A legislator’s chief of staff was arrested in Juneau on Friday on federal charges of sex trafficking and child exploitation, enticement and coercion and creating child sexual abuse material.
Craig Scott Valdez, 36, was chief of staff to Sutton Republican Sen. George Rauscher since November, and worked in Rauscher’s office since 2021, according to a government staffing website Legistorm. Rauscher was not immediately available for comment Friday.
A spokesperson for the Senate Minority Caucus, of which Rasucher is a member, said Friday afternoon that Valdez had been terminated from his employment with the Legislature, effective immediately.
Valdez also served as the chair of the Anchorage Young Republicans since January 2025, according to the organization’s social media posts. A spokesperson for the Alaska Republican Party said in a statement Friday said the charges were “nothing short of horrifying” and said Valdez has been removed from any and all positions within the Alaska Republican Party and Young Republicans.
Valdez has been charged with four felony charges, including sex trafficking, child exploitation and production of child sexual abuse material, or CSAM — formerly referred to as child pornography — coercion and enticement of a minor, and receipt of CSAM.
The charges are connected to an incident in October involving a 15-year-old girl he allegedly enticed to his Anchorage home through the social media app Snapchat, for “the purposes of sexually exploiting the child to celebrate his birthday,” according to court documents. Documents say the girl’s sibling alerted their mother, who used a tracking app and drove to his home and intervened, and called the Anchorage Police Department. Court documents say the mother “entered the residence, struck Valdez once in the face, and recovered the child who exhibited signs of extreme drug or alcohol intoxication and had difficulty walking and maintaining consciousness.” Police arrived, the documents say, but Valdez had fled the home.
The mother recovered the girl’s phone and took screenshots of the Snapchat messages, which she turned over to law enforcement, according to court documents. The girl reported she was introduced to Valdez through other children when she was 13 or 14 years old. Federal agents said they believe this was not the first time Valdez exploited the girl, and believe he victimized others.
The FBI has identified at least 11 other victims after reviewing Valdez’ Snapchat communications and use of the Cashapp platform. Under the usernames “NONAME20233132” or “DOCHANK,” the FBI said Valdez exhibited a “compulsive pattern of behavior bombarding children he finds on Snapchat with requests for sexually explicit images and even more concerning, causing and attempting to cause children to engage in commercial sex acts.”
The investigation is ongoing, led by the FBI Anchorage office and the Anchorage Police Department, and the agencies say anyone with additional information can report anonymously to tips.fbi.gov.
Valdez is scheduled to appear in federal court on Feb 23. If convicted, he faces between 15 years to life in prison.
