Chris Phoumy gets 25-years in prison for child pornography and having sexual contact with children
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) -Horrifying and calculated – those are the words a Minnehaha County Judge used today to describe the crimes committed by a former child care worker.
Moments later, she sentenced Chris Phoumy to 25-years in prison for child pornography and having sexual contact with children in his care.
That’s in addition to Phoumy’s Lincoln County sentence. All together he’ll serve 50 years behind bars.
For years, Chris Phoumy was trusted to take care of children, not only at child care centers, but in people’s homes.
“I think, you know, sending your children to daycare is a necessity for most South Dakotans. We have a multitude of double-working families. I mean, we’ve seen in the media lately where we’ve had daycares closing and that kind of the pain, the panic that that has caused. But when you drop those kids off at daycare, you want them to grow. You want them to become socialized. You want them to learn,” said Crystal Johnson.
Today in court we learned Phoumy met one of his victims while volunteering for CASA – an organization that helps children who’ve been abused.
Investigators also found child porn on Phoumy’s phone. He had pictures of 17 children – each picture was tagged and labeled. One of the pictures was of a child at a Sioux Falls day care.
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Before the judge handed down her sentence, two of Phoumy’s victims families spoke, saying the damage done to their children is unforgivable.
“They have so many things that they now have to battle and overcome, that it’s very important for the court to see that those are real living human beings who are going to have struggles,” said Crystal.
Phoumy didn’t speak. Instead, he wrote a statement and had his attorney read it, saying “this is my fault, not anyone else’s” and calling himself “the worst person in the world.”
With how many day cares he worked at and families he babysat for, the judge said they’ll never really know how many children Phoumy abused.
We were able to confirm he worked at at least four day cares in at least two states.
Phoumy had worked in at least four day care centers in at least two states. Some of his Minnehaha County crimes also occurred in homes.
Phoumy was sentenced to 25 years in prison in Lincoln County in August 2023. Thursday, he was sentenced to 25 years in Minnehaha County. Phoumy will serve 50 years in total, consecutively.
