Cincinnati Man Sentenced to 21 Years in Prison for Attempting to Create Child Pornography

CINCINNATI – Mark Brookbank, 54, of Cincinnati, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 262 months in prison for attempting to create child pornography through the photographs of a five year old.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Steve Francis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett.

According to court documents, from at least June 2017 through December 2017, Brookbank attempted to create child pornography by photographing his five-year-old relative. For example, Brookbank took a digital photograph of himself wearing a pair of children’s underwear and touching his exposed penis to the head of the relative while she slept. Brookbank also took photographs of the five year old while he touched her genital area.

Brookbank uploaded the photographs to a foreign file-sharing website trafficked by child pornographers and named his photo album “Toy.”

After learning that law enforcement was pursuing him, Brookbank destroyed some of the child pornography in his possession.

Brookbank pleaded guilty in April to one count of attempting to produce child pornography.

“The defendant abused his position of trust in his family to prey upon a vulnerable child,” U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “The public needs to be protected from such a predator. His heinous crimes warrant the sentence he received.” 

“Today’s sentencing should serve as a stern warning about the consequences awaiting child predators who produce and distribute child pornography,” said Steve Francis, special agent in charge of HSI for Michigan and Ohio. “Protecting our children from predators remains an HSI priority, and we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify, arrest and bring these criminals to justice.”

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the cooperative investigation by HSI Special Agent Jason Kearns, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Megan Gaffney, who is representing the United States in this case. 

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