Former Survivor contestant Michael Skupin is facing up to 16 years in prison after a jury in Oakland County, Michigan found him guilty on a number of child pornography charges.
The 54-year-old appeared on Survivor: The Australian Outback in 2001, where he famously burned his hands after falling into a campfire, and he later returned to the franchise for Survivor: Philippines.
Investigators say that they found child pornography on Skupin’s laptop by coincidence, while investigating his involvement in an unrelated matter concerning a ponzi scheme he is accused of orchestrating.
Overnight, a jury found him guilty on four of six counts of possession of child pornography, each of which carries a sentence of up to four years. He will face his financial fraud charges in a separate trial next week.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette put out a media release after the verdict, saying:
The children in these videos and images were exploited, and each time the images were shared and viewed continued their suffering … My hope is that today’s conviction will bring some closure to the families and the children that are victims in this case.
Regarding the financial fraud charges, it is alleged that Skupin encouraged family and friends to make $10,000 cash payments into a ‘gifting scheme’ called Pay It Forward, where past investors were to be paid out of new investors’ contributions.
The scheme failed and most of those involved lost money, and the Attorney General was scathing in his assessment of Skupin, saying:
Not only did this man rob people of their hard-earned savings with his financial scams but he victimised innocent children every time he looked at a piece of child pornography … This man seems to have no concept or caring for right and wrong and will be prosecuted under the full extent of the law for these horrific crimes.
Skupin is due for sentencing in relation to the child pornography charges on December 27.
Source: Entertainment Weekly.
Photo: Tibrina Hobson / Getty.
