In March 2022, the Daytona Beach Police Department’s Advanced Technology and Cybercrime (ATAC) unit launched an investigation after receiving a tip about a child porn distribution ring that was being run on a social media app. After doing some digging, Daytona cops made a disturbing discovery—the perpetrator distributing images of child sexual abuse on the app—was one of their own.
In April 2022, Officer Brandon Fox, 23, was arrested and charged with 7 counts of possession and distribution of child pornography. According to police, they received information regarding an individual sharing child pornography via a social media app that included images and videos of sexual acts involving children under 10.
The evidence was so strong against him that he was quickly found guilty, and this week Fox was sentenced to 25 years in prison followed by 45 years of probation.
Fox reluctantly entered no-contest pleas for a staggering 38 counts of possession of sexual performance by a child. With each count being escalated from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony due to Fox’s possession of 10 or more images, including at least one video, the legal system actually aimed to hold him accountable.
The consequences for a second-degree felony can be as severe as 15 years in prison, meaning that Fox faced the possibility of an astounding 570-year sentence. However, the sentencing guidelines established a minimum sentence for Fox at 63.5 years, demonstrating the intent to ensure justice is served.
During the sentencing, Fox admitted to “being part of the problem” instead of the “solution” when it came to stopping child porn.
“I am someone who should have been acting to arrest and stop child abuse and child pornography,” Fox said. “In my tenure in law enforcement, I was involved in the arrest of sex offenders and people who have sought to hurt children. So, when I came into contact with these items I should have been part of the solution, not part of the problem.”
“Instead of protecting those innocent children from criminal behavior and exploitation, you chose repeatedly to participate in their exploitation and their victimization,” Circuit Judge Elizabeth Blackburn said. “And every single time you open a photograph or video, you, a sworn officer, revictimized that child. Every time you entered that chat room through Kik or any other chatroom that’s designed to share child pornography, you participated in exploiting children.”
During the investigation, police tracked the horrifying images and videos back to Fox.
According to police, Fox had been with the department for two years before he began preying on children.
As we reported right before Fox’s arrest, in August of 2020, former New Mexico State Police officer, Ricky Romero, was granted a plea deal after admitting to soliciting and receiving sexually explicit images from an underage girl on social media. Instead of jail time for this child predator, Romero’s badge granted him blue privilege, and he was given probation.
Thanks to his blue privilege, Romero avoided jail and didn’t have to register as a sex offender. While on probation for sex crimes against children, Romero was arrested again.
According to the United States Attorney’s office for the District of New Mexico, Romero appeared in federal court the following month where he was charged with coercion and enticement of a minor and receiving child pornography—again.
This article was originally featured at The Free Thought Project and is republished with permission.
