Bellevue Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Producing and Transporting Child Pornography

Christopher D. Brackett, 37, was sentenced in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for producing, transporting, and possessing child pornography. Brackett was convicted after a jury trial on all three charges. The Honorable Lyle E. Strom, Senior United States District Court Judge, sentenced Brackett to a term of imprisonment of 360 months for producing child pornography, 360 months for transporting child pornography, and 240 months for possessing child pornography. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently. There is no parole in the federal prison system. After his release from prison, Brackett will begin a 20-year term of supervised release.

Brackett was previously convicted in Des Moines County, Iowa, for sexual exploitation of a minor. He photographed a 15-year-old female engaged in sexually explicit conduct. As a result of this prior conviction, he was subject to a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence for producing child pornography.

Brackett traveled from Nebraska to Ohio on two occasions between May and August, 2013, where he photographed a 16-year-old girl engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He transported the images back to Nebraska.  He met the girl online and began a relationship with her. He requested more sexually explicit images from her and, when she declined, he exerted pressure on her. When she attempted to end the relationship, he threatened to, and ultimately did, post advertisements on Craigslist purporting to be from the 16-year-old girl. The advertisements listed the girl’s telephone number and address and encouraged others to call or stop by the house to engage in sexual relations. She began receiving numerous texts from interested individuals.

The girl confided in her parents and was brought to her local police department. On September 17, 2013, officers with the Bellevue Police Department in Nebraska executed a search warrant upon Brackett’s residence. Sexually explicit photos of the 16-year-old were found on a Sony laptop computer and Dell desktop computer in the residence.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Bellevue Police Department and the Nebraska Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.