Former Army service member sentenced to 4 years for possessing child pornography

NORFOLK, Va. — A former Army service member was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

According to court documents, law enforcement discovered Daniel Brown, 39, of Norfolk, during an investigation into a photo-sharing website known to be used for sharing child pornography. Brown was a registered user of the site. He posted suggestive pictures of young girls with comments implying he was creating pornographic images of them. He mentioned he wanted to trade those images with other users. Further investigation revealed Brown had posted more 4,000 sexually suggestive comments to the site in response to images of children posted by other users. 

Based upon Brown’s activities on the website, HSI special agents obtained a search warrant for his residence and his email account. They found that Brown possessed child pornography in his email account, as well as on the electronic devices in his home. In addition, Brown routinely used his email account to trade child pornography with other users from the photo-sharing website.

Brown pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography Sept. 23. At the time of his arrest, Brown was active duty Army stationed at Little Creek Amphibious Base.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are 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, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.