Show-Me State Times

U.S. District Judge John A. Ross has sentenced Bradley Thomas Colvin, a former church youth ministry volunteer from Rolla, Missouri, to nine years in prison for possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). In addition to the prison term, Colvin is required to pay $84,000 to 28 victims identified in the materials he possessed.

Colvin had been engaged in searching for, viewing, and downloading CSAM over several years. He also distributed child pornography through a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to an officer with the Missouri State Highway Patrol during an investigation. Following a court-approved search of his home, Colvin admitted during a polygraph examination that he had touched a minor for sexual gratification at a pool party celebrating the end of Vacation Bible School years earlier. Investigators discovered at least 833 videos and 5,566 images containing CSAM on his computers and electronic devices as part of his guilty plea.

The 52-year-old pleaded guilty in March in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography. After serving his sentence, Colvin will be on supervised release for life.

The case was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

This prosecution was part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. The project coordinates federal, state, and local resources to locate and prosecute individuals exploiting children via the Internet while identifying and rescuing victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.