Indiana Man Indicted for Conspiracy to Receive and Distribute Child Pornography

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia returned an indictment today charging an Evansville, Indiana man with one count of conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of receipt of child pornography.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Chief Michael L. Brown of the Alexandria Police Department, made the announcement. 

Bradley Robert Segert, 30, is charged with one count of conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of receipt of child pornography.  According to the indictment, between January 2015 and August 2015, Segert allegedly administered a private chat group on Kik Messenger, a mobile messaging application, dedicated to sharing and trading images and videos of child pornography.  During this period, Segert and another administrator living within the Eastern District of Virginia allegedly required Kik users interested in becoming members of the group to send them images and videos of child pornography in order to gain admission.  Additionally, the indictment alleges that Segert knowingly distributed and received child pornography in interstate commerce, including to and from the Eastern District of Virginia.    

FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, specifically the Alexandria Police Department, is investigating the case. The Task Force is comprised of agents of the FBI, U.S. Marshals, and detectives from the Prince William County Police, Fairfax County Police, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Metropolitan Police, Alexandria City Police, Arlington County Police, Leesburg Police, Virginia State Police and the Offices of Inspector General of several federal agencies.  Trial Attorneys James E. Burke IV, Gwendelynn Bills and William Clayman of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section are prosecuting the case. 

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the 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.justice.gov/psc.