DENVER - Robert Arthur Brewster, age 41, of Clifton, Colorado pled guilty earlier this week before U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson to the production of child pornography, U.S. Attorney John Walsh and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Kumar Kibble announced. Brewster appeared at the change of plea hearing in custody. Judge Jackson is scheduled to sentence Brewster on Sept. 24, 2013 at 8:00 a.m.
Brewster was indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 26, 2013. He pled guilty on July 10, 2013.
According to court documents, including the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, beginning on January 7, 2010, the defendant initiated contact using an instant message program with an individual whom he believed to be a 13 year old girl living in Kentucky. In truth, the 13 year old girl was an undercover Kentucky based Internet Crimes Against Children task force officer. Over the following month, the defendant engaged in multiple conversations where he actively shared multiple images and videos depicting child pornography in an effort to entice the undercover officer to participate in the production of child pornography for him. Brewster went as far as sending a brand new web camera to the undercover officer.
During the conversations, the defendant admitted to producing child pornography himself and sent 3 of the images he produced as proof. All 3 of the pictures constituted child pornography, were of a minor child to whom he had access, and in each of the pictures the tattoo on his lower left arm was visible.
A search warrant was executed at his residence in Clifton, Colorado. Media seized from the defendant’s residence yielded 870 images of child pornography and 22 videos of child pornography on the Defendant’s computer. Among the media were the images of the minor child to whom he had access to as described above -- revealing 23 images of that minor child of which 20 were actual child pornography.
“The production of child pornography is one of the most serious crimes prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office," said U.S. Attorney John Walsh. “Thanks to the hard work of Homeland Security Investigations and the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, working closely with Assistant U.S. Attorneys, the defendant was arrested, and thus prevented from continuing the sexual assaults of his minor victim, in essence rescuing his victim from continued exploitation."
“The sexual exploitation of children is a heinous crime that can scar and debilitate its victims forever," said Kumar Kibble, special agent in charge of HSI Denver. “To rescue these innocent victims, HSI works in tandem with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our international, state and local law enforcement partners to vigilantly protect our communities from child sex predators."
Brewster faces a mandatory minimum 15 years in federal prison, and a maximum of not more than 30 years in federal prison. He also faces a term of supervised release of not less than 5 years, and up to life. In addition, Brewster faces a fine of up to $250,000 as well as restitution. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. Finally, he has agreed to forfeit all of his computers and computer media used in the production of and or containing child pornography, including 3 laptop computers, a computer tower, 2 cameras, a web camera, 2 thumb drives, and one external hard drive.
This case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, and officers from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Brewster is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Martin and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alecia Riewerts Wolak.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab "resources." #
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
