FRESNO - A longtime area Little League baseball coach is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court here tomorrow morning on a criminal complaint charging him with possessing and receiving child pornography over the Internet.

Bradly Nelson, 46, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and deputies from the Fresno County Sheriff's Department at his Sanger home early this morning. Officers from the Sanger Police Department also assisted with the arrest.

ICE and the Fresno County Sheriff's Department began investigating Nelson, who has been a Little League baseball coach in the Sanger area for more than two decades, at the request of the Sanger Police Department. The affidavit filed in the case states that the Sanger Police Department contacted ICE after receiving allegations that the coach previously molested two of his underage players and showed one of them child pornography. Local authorities are continuing to investigate the molestation allegations.

After being interviewed by ICE agents in July, Nelson consented to have his computer hard drive examined using forensic analysis. That analysis revealed numerous images of child pornography, including depictions of prepubescent boys and girls engaging in sexually explicit activity. According to the affidavit, forensics experts also determined that Nelson had recently used the computer to search the Internet for child pornography.

"This case is particularly troubling because of the suspect's longstanding contact with young people," said Scott Brown, the resident agent in charge of the ICE office of investigations in Fresno. "ICE will continue to work closely with its local law enforcement partners to investigate those who prey upon and sexually exploit our children."

Because of the circumstances of the case, investigators are concerned there may be unidentified victims. ICE urges anyone who has information regarding this matter to contact the Sanger Police Department at (559) 875-8521.

If convicted on the two current counts, Nelson faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

The charges against Nelson are part of Operation Predator, an ongoing ICE initiative to identify, investigate, and arrest those who prey on children. Since ICE launched Operation Predator in July of 2003, the agency has arrested more than 8,200 sex offenders nationwide, including more than 2,000 in California.

Additional information about Operation Predator is available on the Web at www.ice.gov. ICE encourages the reporting of suspected child predators through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

-- ICE --