Fortson man pleads guilty as part of international child pornography investigation
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A 27-year-old Fortson man has pleaded guilty to sending and receiving online images involving child exploitation, including pornography depicting toddlers and infants, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Brandon Bywater’s phone showed that he also texted a 13-year-old girl more than 400 times, pretending to be a high school sophomore named “Jack” and enticing her to him send nude selfies, investigators said, adding Bywater also sent the seventh-grader his own nude photos.
He pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor in U.S. District Court in Columbus, where Judge Clay Land set his sentencing for July 14, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Bywater faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison, the feds said.
They said that Bywater admitted exchanging child pornography as the Kik social media app user “drawingkid500,” and that agents found 27 images of child exploitation on his phone, including 14 of prepubescent children.
He was charged in an international child exploitation investigation involving Homeland Security, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, according to the news release.
Authorities said Bywater as “drawingkid500” uploaded child pornography on Kik on June 26, 2018, when Kik detected it and alerted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Canadian agents referred the case to U.S. Homeland Security Investigations after Bywater’s internet provider address was geo-located to the United States, leading to a search of Bywater’s residence.
The investigation was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice launched in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.