Former Hillsborough Community College Professor Sentenced To More Than 11 Years For Possessing And Distributing Child Sex Abuse Videos

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge William F. Jung today sentenced Howard Joseph Vorder Bruegge, III (36, Tampa) to 11 years and 8 months in federal prison for possessing and distributing child pornography. 

Vorder Bruegge had pleaded guilty on March 29, 2019.

According to court documents, Vorder Bruegge, using the internet monikers “JoeBlow73” and “JoeBlowFL,” distributed child sex abuse videos on multiple occasions. He also collected child pornography on his cellphone, including sex abuse videos of babies and toddlers. His collection included more than 200 images and 47 videos depicting child sex abuse, including videos known by law enforcement to have been produced in the Tampa Bay area. Vorder Bruegge’s devices also contained conversations where he discussed a desire to sexually abuse his friend’s children.

Vorder Bruegge also used his phone to film and publically share voyeur videos on the internet and utilized peepholes in college campus bathrooms to film students while they were in restroom stalls. He then distributed those videos on websites that hosted voyeur content. Vorder Bruegge’s phone contained at least four videos capturing adult males through peepholes in public HCC restrooms.

“All child exploitation is sickening, but it is deeply disturbing when a person who held a position of trust is the criminal who magnified the harm to the child victims,” said HSI Tampa Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Cochran.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Murray.

This is another case 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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood 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 Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.