Child Pornography Producer Sentenced To Nearly 20 Years In Federal Prison Followed By A Lifetime Of Supervised Release

DENVER – Robert Arthur Brewster, age 42, of Clifton, Colorado, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson to serve 235 months (just under 20 years) in federal prison for production of child pornography, United States Attorney John Walsh and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Kumar Kibble announced.  Following the nearly 20 year sentence, Judge Jackson ordered Brewster to spend the rest of his life on court supervision as well as register as a sex offender.  Brewster was also ordered to pay $3,000 to one of the victims of his crime that submitted a request for restitution.  The defendant appeared at the hearing in custody, and was remanded at its conclusion.

Brewster was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on February 26, 2013.  He pled guilty before Judge Jackson on July 10, 2013.  He was sentenced on September 24, 2013.

According to court documents, including the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, on January 7, 2010, and Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force officer with the Kenton County Police Department in Kenton, Kentucky, working in an undercover capacity as a 13-year old girl, received an instant message from the online profile of the defendant.  The chat was short, with both parties simply saying “hi”.

On January 9, 2010, the defendant identified himself as a 38-year old male living in Clifton, Colorado.  The undercover officer (UCO) responded by identifying himself as a 13-year old girl living in Kentucky.  The defendant and the UCO had several message sessions where the conversation became more focused on pornography.  The defendant asked the UCO if she shared porn on the internet and subsequently began forwarding the UCO pictures and video clips of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. 

During the chats the defendant admitted that he took sexually explicit pictures of a minor child under the age of 12 with whom he had access.  He provided those pictures to the UCO.  The pictures, investigators determined, where of a minor child, under 12-years of age, to whom the defendant had access.  The pictures showed sexually explicit conduct, including one where the defendant was touching the child’s vaginal area.

The defendant and the UCO discussed via chat that the UCO wanted to get a webcam.  The defendant asked if the UCO would share pictures with the defendant.  The defendant continued to share pictures with the UCO.  Brewster also pointed the UCO to various internet locations where the UCO could view additional child pornography.  The defendant also admitted that he had thousands of pictures and videos that he could share with the UCO.

On January 16, 2010, the defendant told the UCO that he had purchased the webcam for her.  He then showed the UCO his bedroom via his own webcam.  During this session, the UCO saw the defendant’s tattoos, which were later used to help identify him as the person who produced child pornography of the minor victim.  The UCO ultimately received the webcam sent by the defendant.

A search warrant was then executed at Brewster’s residence in Clifton, Colorado.  Law enforcement seized computer media from the defendant’s residence, which yielded 870 images and 22 videos of child pornography.  The media also contained 23 images of the minor the defendant had access to and used to produce child pornography.

“This case shows why federal law provides for severe punishment of child pornography defendants: the defendant in this case produced child pornography by photographing his sexual abuse of a child, and then distributed the images over the internet,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh.  “This defendant will spend the rest of his life either in prison or being supervised by the court as the government does its best to stop him from hurting children ever again.”

“Some of the longer federal prison sentences are reserved for those who sexually exploit children to produce child pornography, as in Mr. Brewer’s case,” said Kumar C. Kibble, special agent in charge of HSI Denver.  “Our HSI special agents are extremely vigilant about rescuing these innocent children, and pursuing prosecution against their victimizers.”

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the search warrant.  The Colorado Springs ICAC officers and forensics also participated in the investigation.

The defendant was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Martin and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alecia Riewerts Wolak.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab "resources."

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