A southern Missouri high school teacher who pleaded guilty to a sextortion scheme last year was sentenced Aug. 2 to 30 years in federal prison without parole.
Brandon Lane McCullough, 31, of Branson, Mo., was additionally sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to pay $204,199 in restitution to one victim and to supervised release for life following incarceration, a news release said. His guilty plea occurred Aug. 4, 2021.
"Today’s sentencing is reflective of just how despicable and damaging McCullough’s crimes against children are and emphasizes HSI’s dedication to hold perpetrators accountable," Katherine Greer, HSI special agent in charge of the Kansas City area of operations, said in the release. “We, alongside our law enforcement partners, are committed to the eradication of sextortion from our communities, but we need the public’s help. HSI asks parents, guardians, teachers, caregivers – anyone who interacts with a child – to be on the lookout for, and report, suspicious online behavior to the proper authorities, regardless of whether the individual is in a position of public trust, like McCullough.”
McCullough previously “pleaded guilty to three counts of the sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of coercing and enticing a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity,” the release reported. McCullough reportedly coerced children to send him pornographic images and videos.
At the time of his offense, McCullough was a business teacher at Cassville High School in the Cassville R-4 School District, the release said. He pretended to be a teenager online, coercing children nationwide.
“He victimized 11 children who have been identified, and many more who have not yet been identified, in a horrific sexploitation scheme,” U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore said in the release. “He enticed countless child victims to send him explicit images of themselves, then threatened to share those images with their families and friends over social media unless they continued to send him even more explicit images and videos. Such appalling criminal behavior warrants the severe penalty he received today.”
U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and local law enforcement investigated the case, the release reported.
