Macon man sentenced to maximum prison term for distribution of child pornography
A Macon man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison this week for using threats on social media to solicit, distribute and sell child sexual abuse material.
Anthony Sparks Brown, 27, pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Tilman E. “Tripp” Self III to serve 240 months in prison, the statutory maximum. Following his prison sentence, Brown will register as a sex offender for life and have a lifetime of supervised release.
Brown’s case was investigated by the GBI which, according to court documents, first received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a nonprofit with the mission to “help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation and prevent child victimization.”
Investigators found that Brown had used threats to solicit sexually explicit images from a 12-year-old Tennessee girl and force her to give him access to her Facebook account, which he later used to distribute and sell child pornography.
Brown first met the girl on Instagram in 2018. He told investigators that she sent him sexually explicit images which he then used to blackmail her. Brown used an alias to threaten the girl on Facebook, sending her the images and threatening that he would only refrain from sending them out if she gave him her Facebook login information.
The girl sent Brown her Facebook credentials and he continued using threats to solicit more sexually abusive photos and videos the same day while continuing to distribute and sell the material. He also admitted to messaging with her friends and family through her account.
On July 9, 2019, Brown was taken into custody. He admitted to using threats to gain her Facebook credentials, coercing more explicit content and distributing and selling the material.
“GBI agents tracked down the defendant, freeing the child from his escalating online threats,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary in a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice’s U.S. Attorney’s office Tuesday. “This case illustrates that it takes a cross-section of groups to include caring citizens and dedicated law enforcement to stop the online exploitation of children.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Kalim and was brought in part by Project Safe Childhood, “a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.” It was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.
This story was originally published July 22, 2022 at 6:50 AM.