INDIANAPOLIS: Brad Bevington, 51, of Indianapolis was sentenced to 12.5 years in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse material.
According to court documents, on April 7, 2021, Bevington was arrested for child exploitation in Marion County, Indiana in a case related to uploading files depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct to Twitter and Dropbox. Bevington was released on a $100,000 surety bond in April 2021.
On September 3, 2021, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) received a CyberTip, submitted by Snapchat, reporting that an account later proved to be used by Bevington had uploaded videos depicting adults engaging in sexual intercourse with prepubescent boys. Further investigation revealed that Bevington used Snapchat to send sexually explicit videos involving children to other Snapchat users while he was on bond for the Marion County offenses.
Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Jeffrey R. Adams, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Indianapolis Field Office, and Chief Randal Taylor of IMPD made the announcement.
“Those who sexually exploit children using online platforms are dangerous predators,” said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “These criminals should pay great attention to the sentence imposed today. Our law enforcement partners will identify you and make our children safer by sending you to federal prison.”
The U.S Secret Service and IMPD investigated the case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Jude James R. Sweeney. As part of the sentence, Judge Sweeney ordered Bevington to pay $11,000 in restitution to the child victims, as well as $250 to the Amy, Vicki and Andy Act Fund. Bevington must also register as sex offender wherever he lives, works, or goes to school, as required by law.
U.S. Attorney Myers thank Assistant United States Attorney Kristina M. Korobov, who prosecuted this case.
This investigation was conducted by the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a partnership of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies led by the Indiana State Police. The Task Force is dedicated to investigating and prosecuting crimes involving the technology-facilitated sexual exploitation of children and the trafficking of child sexual abuse material. Each year, Indiana ICAC investigators evaluate thousands of tips, investigate hundreds of cases, and rescue dozens of children from ongoing sexual abuse. In fiscal year 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, the Southern District of Indiana was second out of the 94 federal districts in the country for the number of child sexual exploitation cases prosecuted.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc