Former Rolla Church Volunteer Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison on Child Pornography Charge

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a former church youth ministry volunteer from Rolla, Missouri to 9 years in prison for possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material. Bradley Thomas Colvin was also ordered to pay $84,000 to 28 victims that have been identified in the child sexual abuse material (CSAM) he possessed.

Colvin searched for, viewed and downloaded CSAM for years. Colvin also distributed child pornography via a peer-to peer file sharing program to an officer with the Missouri State Highway Patrol who was conducting an investigation. After a court-approved search of Colvin’s home, Colvin admitted during a polygraph examination having touched a minor for sexual gratification years earlier at a pool party to celebrate the end of Vacation Bible School. Investigators also found at least 833 videos and 5,566 images containing CSAM on Colvin’s computers and electronic devices, he admitted as part of a guilty plea.

Colvin, 52, pleaded guilty in March in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography. He will be on supervised release for life after his release from prison.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's 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.