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A former Lengthy Seashore police officer who pleaded responsible to distributing youngster sexual abuse materials was sentenced Monday to just about six years in jail.
Anthony Brown, 57, pleaded responsible in March to 1 rely of distribution of kid pornography, federal prosecutors mentioned. In his plea settlement, he admitted to sharing a minimum of one picture whereas on responsibility at Lengthy Seashore Airport.
His case was marred by a number of blunders by investigators, together with when a detective referred to as and notified him of the investigation greater than a 12 months earlier than his arrest in February 2021.
The case got here to the eye of Lengthy Seashore police detectives in Could 2020 when the Nationwide Heart for Lacking & Exploited Youngsters notified the division that an account on messaging app MeWe registered to a cellphone quantity in Lengthy Seashore was getting used to distribute youngster sexual abuse photos.
From October 2019 to Could 2020, Brown used the messaging app to speak about forcing a fictitious minor relative into having intercourse with males, in response to court docket paperwork. He additionally shared photos of kids being sexually abused, in response to court docket data.
A detective tied the quantity to Brown and referred to as him to inform him his account was getting used to share sex-abuse photos, the Lengthy Seashore Put up reported.
Det. Laurie Barajas reportedly instructed Brown that she would drop the case, but when there have been every other complaints she would pursue felony fees. Prosecutors mentioned this gave Brown the possibility to delete proof from his cellphone.
Barajas instructed federal investigators she wasn’t conscious that Brown was a police officer till after their cellphone dialog, in response to court docket data. Police mentioned Barajas’ name was “in keeping with historic investigative greatest practices on the time,” the Put up reported.
A spokesperson for the Lengthy Seashore Police Division instructed the Put up that below new division coverage, detectives would not name suspects in an ongoing investigation.
Brown, who labored for the Lengthy Seashore Police Division for almost 27 years, remained an officer for months after the investigation started, till he was suspended with out pay upon his arrest. He was allowed to file for retirement with a pension shortly after his arrest, in response to the Lengthy Seashore Put up.
Along with the sentence of 70 months in federal jail, Brown was ordered to pay a high-quality of $15,000 and shall be positioned on lifetime supervised launch, in response to the U.S. lawyer’s workplace for the Central District of California.
Brown now lives in Island, Ky., and his lawyer, Howard Value, expects him to give up to serve his jail time period in October.
Value referred to as the sentence disappointing and mentioned fees had been pursued solely as a result of Brown was an officer.
“The truth that he was a police officer is one thing that clearly is inappropriate, however the distinction is that his felony conduct occurred not as a police officer however whereas being a police officer,” Value mentioned. “In different phrases, he didn’t use his place as a police officer to commit a criminal offense.”
The Lengthy Seashore Police Division didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
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