Filipino in Alaska arrested for distributing child porn

A suspended Ketchikan, Alaska physical therapist was charged with distributing child pornography, according to court documents filed Dec. 14.

Ketchikan police identified the suspect as Dennis Chua, 47, a licensed physical therapist employed at Ketchikan’s hospital, who stands accused of viewing and forwarding sexually explicit videos of young children, according to a report by KRBD.

Court documents filed on Dec. 14 say the child pornography investigation by Ketchikan police started this spring over a report from Facebook administrators to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

One of the sexually explicit videos involved a child estimated to be as young as eight, prosecutors allege, which was distributed a year ago. Court documents say the children appear to be from the Philippines.

Chua allegedly shared a second five-minute sexually explicit video involving children as young as five in March 2021 with as many as 18 Facebook users.

PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center hired Chua in 2018, according to his LinkedIn page. An article on the nonprofit’s website describes Chua as a married family man born in the Philippines giving him the advantage of speaking Tagalog and other languages to his patients. He reportedly worked in Saudi Arabia until 2015 and then came to the United States to practice.

A PeaceHealth spokesperson says the physical therapist had already been on administrative leave when he was arrested. He holds a state physical therapy license, which remains in good standing, the state’s Commerce Department confirmed on Tuesday to KRBD.

Nothing in the court documents indicates a link between the alleged crimes and his medical practice. An online state licensing database shows no complaints against him as a physical therapist.

Public defender Clare Carlson, who is representing Chua, says her client has not been indicted by a grand jury and is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise. She says he intends to plead not guilty and contest the charges. Chua is free on $2,000 bail.