Maryland Man Allegedly Paid People in the Philippines to Send Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal criminal complaint has been filed charging Louis Francis Bradley, age 65, of Baltimore, with distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography. The criminal complaint was filed on March 15, 2016, and unsealed upon Bradley’s arrest.  Bradley had his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher.  Bradley was ordered to be detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Monday, March 21, 2016, at 11:00 a.m.

The charges were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department.

“The disturbing affidavit alleges that the defendant contacted women in the Philippines over the internet and paid them to send images of young girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, In January 2016, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a Cybertipline Report submitted by a website stating that between December 30, 2015, and January 14, 2016, eight images of suspected child pornography were uploaded to a photo account associated with Bradley’s email address. 

As part of the investigation, search warrants were executed for Bradley’s social media and email accounts.  The results for one of Bradley’s Facebook accounts is over 29,000 pages long and the review of the results is ongoing, but law enforcement located conversations with women in the Philippines. Based on those conversations, the affidavit alleges that Bradley is paying the women, who have access to minor females, to send him images of those prepubescent females engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  The affidavit alleges that Bradley also distributed child pornography to at least one woman in the Philippines.

If convicted, Bradley faces a minimum mandatory sentence of five years and up to 40 years for distribution and receipt of child pornography; and a maximum of 20 years in prison for possession of child pornography. 

A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

This 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.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.              

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and Baltimore City Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who is prosecuting the federal case.