A former Lengthy Seashore police officer who pleaded responsible to distributing little one sexual abuse materials was sentenced Monday to just about six years in jail.
Anthony Brown, 57, pleaded responsible in March to at least one depend of distribution of kid pornography, federal prosecutors mentioned. In his plea settlement, he admitted to sharing no less than one picture whereas on obligation at Lengthy Seashore Airport.
His case was marred by a number of blunders by investigators, together with when a detective known 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 telephone quantity in Lengthy Seashore was getting used to distribute little one sexual abuse photographs.
From October 2019 to Could 2020, Brown used the messaging app to talk about forcing a fictitious minor relative into having intercourse with males, in line with courtroom paperwork. He additionally shared photographs of kids being sexually abused, in line with courtroom data.
A detective tied the quantity to Brown and known as him to inform him his account was getting used to share sex-abuse photographs, the Lengthy Seashore Submit reported.
Det. Laurie Barajas reportedly informed Brown that she would drop the case, but when there have been some other complaints she would pursue felony costs. Prosecutors mentioned this gave Brown the prospect to delete proof from his telephone.
Barajas informed federal investigators she wasn’t conscious that Brown was a police officer till after their telephone dialog, in line with courtroom data. Police mentioned Barajas’ name was “according to historic investigative finest practices on the time,” the Submit reported.
A spokesperson for the Lengthy Seashore Police Division informed the Submit 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 line with the Lengthy Seashore Submit.
Along with the sentence of 70 months in federal jail, Brown was ordered to pay a positive of $15,000 and can be positioned on lifetime supervised launch, in line with 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 known as the sentence disappointing and mentioned costs 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.
