Mesquite Man Pleads Guilty To Child Pornography Charge

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A Mesquite, Nev. man who has a prior felony conviction for child molestation, pleaded guilty today to a child pornography charge for uploading images of child pornography onto the internet and possessing thousands of images and videos of child pornography, including child rape, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden for the District of Nevada.

“The private sector’s assistance in this case was extremely helpful to the identification and capture of this child predator,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “We encourage persons to report suspicious activity to law enforcement so that we can prosecute individuals who share disturbing images of children being raped and violently abused.”

Brian Michael Brewer, 37, pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Howard D. McKibben to one count of receipt of child pornography.  Brewer is scheduled to be sentenced on March 22, 2016, and faces 15 to 40 years in prison and lifetime supervised release.          

According to the court records, in July 2015, an internet application business notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that one of their users with a Nevada internet address had uploaded images of suspected child pornography to their online bulletin board site, Padlet.  NCMEC notified the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and a detective with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) began investigating the matter.  It was determined that Brewer, a registered sex offender, was residing at the Mesquite address from where the pornography uploads were originating. Investigators executed a search warrant at the home on Sept. 23, 2015, and recovered a laptop computer and thumb drive from Brewer’s bedroom.  A forensic investigation revealed that almost over 10,000 images and 288 videos of child pornography were stored on the laptop and thumb drive, including images and videos of prepubescent children who were being raped by adult men and which portrayed sadistic, masochistic, and violent conduct.  Brewer has a prior felony conviction for child molestation in the state of Washington for sexually molesting a seven-year-old girl.

The case was investigated by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Allison L. Herr of the Nevada Attorney General’s Office.

The case was 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.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."