John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that HARRY BRIGHT, also known as “Buddy Bright," 78, of Waterbury, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to one count of distribution of obscene matter to a minor.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in November 2017, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) contacted Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to report that NCMEC had been notified by Facebook’s Trust and Safety team that BRIGHT was enticing a 15-year-old female through Facebook instant messaging to engage in sexual activity, and was planning on traveling to the Philippines on December 4, 2017, to meet the minor victim. The investigation revealed that BRIGHT started communicating with the minor victim in late August 2017, sent her sexually explicit messages and requested that she send him nude photographs of herself. In September 2017, BRIGHT sent the minor victim nude pictures of himself.
The investigation further revealed that BRIGHT had engaged in sexually explicit conversations with at least two other 15-year-old females in the Philippines through Facebook, and that he sent one of those minor victims a nude picture of himself.
BRIGHT was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on December 4, 2017.
BRIGHT is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea on Sept. 11, 2018, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. He is released on a $75,000 bond pending sentencing.
This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and is be being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacabed Rodriguez-Coss.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
