Public Safety

A state legislator’s former chief of staff faces charges of child sexual exploitation and child sex trafficking. Federal agents arrested Craig Scott Valdez, 36, early Friday in Juneau, according to court documents.

Valdez is an Anchorage resident listed as having served as Republican Wasilla state Sen. George Rauscher’s chief of staff since November. Valdez was terminated Friday hours after the charges were made public, according to a press secretary for the state Senate minority caucus, of which Rauscher is a member.

Valdez was also elected as chair of the Anchorage Young Republicans in January 2025 and became the group’s state committee chair last month, according to social media posts.

A grand jury on Tuesday indicted Valdez on charges of sex trafficking a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor – for both allegedly producing and receiving child sexual abuse material – and coercion and enticement of a minor. The alleged crimes occurred in October 2025, according to the indictment.

Court documents detail a specific instance in which Valdez allegedly lured a 15-year-old girl to his Anchorage home. But prosecutors also wrote that the FBI has identified at least 11 other potential victims, and federal authorities are asking the public for help as their investigation continues.

In a court filing supporting Valdez’s detention in jail, federal prosecutors laid out what they say happened in October:

Valdez had met the 15-year-old girl on Snapchat, picked her up at her home and drove her to his house, “for the purpose of sexually exploiting the child to celebrate his birthday,” the detention memorandum says.

The girl’s sibling alerted her mother, who used a family tracking application to track her daughter to Valdez’s home in south Anchorage. The mother called Anchorage police after arriving at Valdez’s home and waited outside, where she heard her daughter inside the house say something about wanting to leave.

“(The girl’s) mother then 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,” the memo says. “(Police) responded a short time later, at which point Valdez, puzzlingly, chose to flee from his own residence.”

While the girl had left her own phone at Valdez’s residence, the mother was able to copy messages from a separate linked device showing Valdez had used Snapchat to entice the girl to come to his home for sexual purposes.

The girl later told investigators that other children had introduced her to Valdez when she was 13 or 14 years old.

Law enforcement officials do not think the October incident was the first time Valdez exploited the girl, nor do they think she was his only victim.

Federal prosecutors wrote in a news release Friday that investigators are looking for more information, including other victims. They say he went by the usernames “NONAME20233132” or “DOCHANK” and ask that anyone with further information on Valdez call the FBI Anchorage Field Office at 907-276-4441 or deliver tips anonymously to tips.fbi.gov.

A request for comment Friday morning to Rauscher’s office was referred to the state Senate minority caucus’s press secretary, who said she did not have any information to release beyond what was publicly available in the court documents. The press secretary, Cassandra Day, texted later to say that Valdez had been fired.

The next hearing in the case is set for Monday.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Valdez was fired from his position as state Sen. George Rauscher’s chief of staff Friday afternoon.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the group Valdez was elected chair of in 2025. He was elected chair of the Anchorage Young Republicans, not the Alaska Young Republicans.

Nearly everyone who testified at a public hearing Tuesday afternoon at the state capitol was in favor of a Juneau representative’s bill that seeks to ban law enforcement officers from wearing face masks on duty in Alaska.

But one person who spoke against the bill happened to be the chief of police for Alaska’s largest city.

Juneau Democrat  Sara Hannan’s House Bill 250 would ban anyone acting as a law enforcement officer in Alaska from wearing a mask while on duty — including federal, state and local agents — with some exemptions like medical masks, transparent safety shields, cold-weather masks or masks worn by undercover officers. 

Hannan promotes it as being “pro-law enforcement.” She prefiled the bill in January, following public outrage after a masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Minnesota woman on camera. A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer killed another man in Minneapolis just weeks later. 

At the bill’s second hearing in the House State Affairs Committee on Tuesday afternoon, the bill received support from eight of the nine public testifiers. That’s after a chilly initial reception from a couple of legislators the week before. 

Bridget Smith of Juneau said while she respects law enforcement, she doesn’t respect anyone who hides their identity.  

“A peace officer wearing a mask to conceal his face would immediately lead me to question that person’s motives and distrust whether that officer was really there to protect and serve me, or whether they wish to be unaccountable for their behavior,” she said. 

As the bill is currently written, an officer who violates the ban would be charged with a Class B misdemeanor per violation, which is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $2,000 fine. Some testifiers ask for the charges to be harsher.

Laura Lucas, also from Juneau, said she supported the bill because she believes it could prevent what’s currently happening in Minnesota, where federal immigration officers have ramped up deportations amid widespread public protests, from happening in Alaska in the future. Other states across the U.S. have sought to impose similar bans in recent months. 

“Within the past year, we’ve seen changes in this country that we’ve never imagined would happen before,” she said. “I see this legislation as potentially proactive for an issue that might arise in Alaska.”

The main dissent against the bill came from Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case. He said while he opposes police officers wearing masks to conceal their identity, he argued the bill is trying to address a problem that doesn’t exist in Alaska.

“Masking is not a practice in Alaska, and enforcing this bill would be impractical, giving it numerous exemptions,” he said. “It attempts to solve a nonexistent issue, while inserting local law enforcement into a debate about federal immigration enforcement, something outside our role and responsibility.”

He said the Anchorage Police Department already has other accountability measures in place, like requiring uniformed officers to wear their badges and identify themselves upon request.

“Despite real risks of harassment and violence, officers have continued to serve openly 

with visible name tags and badges,” he said. “That visibility is part of our responsibility to protect and serve our communities.”

While Case was the only one who verbally testified against the bill, the committee received written testimony as well — that included a couple of comments against, while most were in favor. 

Hannan’s bill is slated to be heard again by the House State Affairs Committee and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. It’s unclear if it will have enough support to advance in the Legislature.

The City of Hoonah has a new chief of police to replace the last chief who was fired while trying to resign last spring. 

James Beck of Oklahoma began his role as Hoonah’s new chief of police and director of public safety in January. Hoonah, a community of less than a thousand people, is located on the northeastern side of Chichagof Island, west of Juneau. 

Beck has served in multiple law enforcement roles for more than two decades, holding positions including tribal police officer, tribal chief of police and sheriff at different agencies in the Lower 48. 

In an interview, Beck said he took the job because he was looking for a change and was drawn to Hoonah’s Indigenous culture. Beck is an enrolled tribal member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. He said his goal is to build trust between the community and the police department. 

“If you’re always truthful, you’re going to remember what you told somebody,” he said. “If you go to trying to tell fibs and little white lies and just being dishonest, it’s going to come back on you eventually, because you’re going to spin a web of lies, and it always collapses.”

Beck’s hiring comes after Hoonah’s former chief, Carlos Frias, alleged he was fired from his role after two years because he began investigating domestic violence and sexual assault complaints made against some city leaders. However, city leaders rebuffed his claims, saying he was fired for a series of violations, including excessive use of force. Frias has since moved away from Hoonah and is now a police officer in Tucson, Arizona.

Beck said one of his goals as chief is to increase transparency and accountability. 

On Thursday, the City of Hoonah is hosting a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall for residents to ask questions or make suggestions to him about the police department. Community members can participate in person or online. 

“I think these community meetings is for me to put myself in front of the community so that I could increase that transparency, because I do believe in transparency and law enforcement,” he said. 

Beck said he would also like to increase staffing levels at the four-person department and upgrade the station.

Bill Miller, Hoonah’s mayor, said Beck has been a great addition to the community so far. 

“His community involvement is really good. He’s been attending all of our meetings because he’s wanting to know the community,” he said. “He fits well for it. He’s got a really good attitude, very knowledgeable.”

Benjamin Botts, formerly with the Ketchikan Police Department, served as interim chief after Frias was fired. According to the city’s website, Botts now serves as a multi-service officer for the department alongside two other officers.

State transportation officials will hold a virtual public forum on Wednesday evening on proposed safety improvements at one of Juneau’s most dangerous intersections.

The intersection at Yandukin Drive and Egan Drive is near the Fred Meyer grocery store and has long been one of Juneau’s most accident-prone areas. Dozens of crashes, some deadly, have occurred there over the years. 

Sonny Mauricio, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Transportation, said the state is hosting the meeting to gather public feedback and share more information about a proposed plan to improve safety at the intersection. 

“This intersection is historically one of Juneau’s most dangerous, ranking as the third highest for injury crashes in Juneau,” he said. “The primary issue is the high-risk left turn going towards Fred Meyer.”

The proposed improvements would partially signalize the intersection with a traffic light and add a pedestrian crossing, which Mauricio said will help improve safety, circulation and connectivity. 

Juneau residents have been vocal about the need for safety changes for at least two decades. In 2023, the Juneau Assembly passed a resolution asking the state to make “immediate and substantial improvements” at the intersection following a fatal crash.

Since then, the state has made small changes like extending the medians there, painting clearer markings and introducing a seasonal speed limit reduction. 

According to Mauricio, the state hopes to secure a contractor and begin construction for the more substantial improvements later this year. 

“We’re making the intersection safer for everyone, including drivers, and there’ll be more features for pedestrians and cyclists as well, with crosswalks and things like that,” he said. “It’s a major improvement for that intersection.”

The virtual open house meeting is on Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. More information about the proposed project and the meeting link can be found on the Department of Transportation’s website.

The Alaska Legislature on Wednesday approved a 30-day extension for the state of disaster covering the fall 2025 storms that battered the state’s west coast.

The extension allows the state to continue spending money from its disaster response fund as it continues cleanup and repair efforts from two storms in October. Hundreds of Alaskans were displaced by the disasters, which devastated coastal communities.

The Alaska Senate approved the extension in a 19-0 vote on Monday, but the extension nearly failed in the Alaska House after members of the House’s Republican minority caucus raised procedural issues on Wednesday and said members of the majority were not following state law.

The extension was included in Senate Concurrent Resolution 12, which retroactively approves extensions issued since October and allows the governor to spend more from the state’s disaster response fund.

“Doing this as a resolution is dangerous, I think it’s a mistake, and I’m not even certain that it’s legal,” said House Minority Leader DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer.

Johnson and other Republicans said that under their interpretation of state law, legislators would need to approve the spending via a bill, not a resolution.

A legislative attorney, writing in a Feb. 2 memo to Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, said, “when the legislature means to take action having a binding effect on those outside the legislature, including extending a disaster declaration, the legislature must enact a bill in a special or regular session rather than using the less formal resolution process.”

Johnson was rebutted by House Rules Chair Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak and a member of the House’s majority coalition.

“This is not new money,” she said. “This is money that has been (in the fund) and is being allowed to be appropriated out. … it’s been agreed upon that maybe this wasn’t the optimum way. Nothing’s perfect. We’re moving forward. We are trying to do the best we can as quickly as we can. Time is of the essence, so I ask you to ask yourself: Do you want to be right in how it is done, or do you want to do the right thing when there’s a question?”

The House vote was 22-18, with Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, joining the 21 members of the House’s coalition majority in support. All other members of the House Republican minority voted against the resolution.

As debate opened, Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie, D-Toksook Bay, became choked up as she described the disaster, which devastated her district and resulted in the largest peacetime evacuation in state history.

“Today, months later, 340 of our neighbors remain without permanent houses. Mr. Speaker, we are Yup’ik. Our people have lived in this delta for thousands of years. We know storms. We know water. We know loss,” she said. “We have lived on this coast for thousands of years, and we’ve survived ice ages, epidemics, colonization. We’ve survived by adapting, sharing, by refusing to abandon our homes, but you can’t really live when your home floats 10 miles out to sea, when your fuel tanks that heat your home in winter are submerged in salt water.”

On Jan. 28, Gov. Mike Dunleavy requested permission to spend $20.5 million from the disaster response fund, up $5.5 million from a prior request.

When federal money is added to that tally, the total amount is $39.25 million.

More spending is expected.

Last week, the director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has estimated at least $125 million in state and federal costs related to the storm disaster.

“The declaration allows state agencies to continue their emergency response and to extend state funds as needed,” said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the House Finance Committee.

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, took issue with the fact that after Dunleavy declared a state of disaster in October, the Speaker of the House and Senate President approved subsequent 30-day extensions without consulting legislators.

“I think we should have called ourselves in (to special session), or the third floor should have called us in (to special session) to take up this very important issue,” Ruffridge said.

“What precedent does this set for the presiding officers to make the decisions before us on our behalf?” he asked. “What power do we give the executive by allowing disaster declarations to continue without (the House) or the (Senate) taking up that order of business?”

Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River, said he worries that failing to follow proper procedure could leave disaster relief vulnerable to legal challenge.

“We put the reliability of that relief at question if this is not done right,” he said.

The day after the vote, Ruffridge said members of the minority have drafted a bill that would fix the problems they see, and that bill is being reviewed by legislative attorneys.

House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, said legislative attorneys have reviewed the majority’s plan.

“We have had our legal department tell us that this passes muster,” he said during the debate.

After the vote, Kopp’s office was unable to provide a legal memo to that effect but said he had received verbal advice.

Josephson, wrapping up debate, said the majority was working in good faith with Dunleavy to get the money out the door quickly.

“Given the urgency of the matter, we’re trying to cooperate with the executive branch,” he said.

Federal officers detained three Juneau men for immigration enforcement and removed them from the community last year.

The Juneau Police Department says its knowledge of these incidents and its involvement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Juneau is very limited. 

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Alaska Department of Corrections spokesperson Betsy Holley confirmed that three men were held at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau under federal charges for immigration detention purposes in 2025, and were then released to federal custody. They are no longer in Alaska’s correctional system.

Last May, one of the men was charged with driving without a license or insurance, according to Alaska court documents.

Juneau Police Deputy Chief Krag Campbell said his files say ICE officers detained the man. This happened in October without JPD knowledge or involvement. 

“During an unrelated investigation, JPD learned that one of the individuals had been deported by ICE,” Campbell said in an interview. 

Juneau police arrested one of the other men for driving under the influence in November. According to DOC, this man then went into federal custody, though Campbell said there is no record of immigration enforcement in JPD files.

Juneau police officers arrested the third man in December for a DUI. When officers later went to his residence and tried to serve a warrant, people there said he had been deported.

This is the first time police have confirmed immigration enforcement activity in Alaska’s capital city during the Trump Administration’s nationwide crackdown. As recently as Monday, Chief Derek Bos said he was not aware of any federal immigration activity in the area.

Holley said once the three men were in federal hands, DOC didn’t track what happened to them next. JPD doesn’t know where they are either. ICE has not responded to requests for more information. 

At Monday’s Juneau Assembly human resources committee meeting, Bos said federal agents are not required to notify local police of their activities.  

“In essence, they do not have to tell us if they’re doing anything in Juneau or not,” Bos said. “We have a great relationship with our federal partners, and so most of the time we do know if they’re coming or whatnot.”

He said the people he knew of that had been detained for immigration reasons had criminal records.

“By and large, all of those that I’m aware of, not to say there aren’t others, but that I’m aware of, who have been deported from our community have been convicted of crimes, and that has been the basis of why they’re leaving,” he said. “There may be exceptions, but I don’t know of those.” 

Nationwide, thousands of ICE officers have entered cities, going door to door to detain and deport people – some children, some with legal residency status. Protests have erupted, and last month, federal officers shot and killed two people in Minneapolis. 

Assembly member Maureen Hall said at the meeting that she has heard from residents about possible ICE activity in Juneau and that immigrants in the community are afraid. 

“Just from awareness of what’s happening all over the country, they are pretty terrified, so (they’re) reluctant to report minor fender benders or engage in any way,” she told Bos. “So if you have any suggestions on how we can help reassure them that Juneau Police Department is not ICE.”

Bos said Juneau residents can trust police to protect them.

“If you’re the victim of a crime, you have a lot of protections, and our job is to enforce those protections,” he said. “So especially as victims, we encourage people to still come to us and talk to us. We don’t have to report that you’re a victim to a crime and you’re illegal in the country. We don’t have to report that to ICE.”

That is, unless that person has a criminal detainer order, which is like a warrant from the federal government, Bos said.

“We do have certain requirements where we have to notify, you know, if there’s a person that we contact who’s on a criminal detainer, we have to notify them, and we do,” he said. “That’s federal law, so we follow that.” 

Campbell said there is no indication in police files that JPD alerted ICE about any of the three men who were detained. The files don’t mention immigration status, he said. 

He said people do have to comply with any orders from federal officers.

“Anytime you have law enforcement coming into town, whether they’re local, state or federal, they have a mandate,” he said. “You have to comply with it. Especially if they have things like warrants.”

KTOO requested records related to the three men from JPD, but has not yet received them.

Even though Juneau has not seen immigration enforcement like larger cities in the Lower 48 have, Assembly member Hall said in an interview that residents still need to be informed about what’s happening here.

“It gives the opportunity for those in the community that are involved in this to review our readiness to deal with potential full scale ICE activity,” she said.