Online Predators Sentenced to 82 Years

Two conspirators imprisoned for scheme to obtain child pornography.

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN - U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey today announced that Michael David Bledsoe, 47, of Lansing, Michigan and Joseph Brandon, 50, of Knoxville, Tennessee, were sentenced to a total of 984 months in prison following their convictions for conspiracy to sexually exploit children. During sentencing, Chief U.S. District Judge Hala Jarbou commented this misconduct at issue was so severe as to be "off the charts." Brandon was sentenced to 660 total months for his crimes, with each of his individual sentences required to be served consecutively. The Court sentenced Bledsoe to 324 total months for his misconduct. When they are released from prison, Brandon will spend 10 years and Bledsoe will spend 5 years on supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey said, "I don't know how to make it any plainer than this: If you are sexually exploiting children, you will be found, prosecuted and sent to prison for a very long time. Stop harming our children or your life is essentially over."

Bledsoe and Brandon met online through a chat group devoted to the discussion of predation of minor females. Through private messages, the two formed a criminal agreement in which Bledsoe promised to provide Brandon with social media and biographical information about minor girls in Michigan. In return, Brandon promised to "catfish" child pornography from the minors, by using a fake social media account where he posed as a 15-year-old girl.

Federal agents discovered the conspiracy after executing a search warrant on Bledsoe's home and electronics. The search uncovered the illicit messages between Bledsoe and Brandon, as well as a trove of child pornography files. Investigators then used this information to obtain a search warrant for Brandon's home in Tennessee, where they found thousands more images and videos of children being sexually abused.

"If you attempt to exploit our children through online deception and catfishing schemes, expect to spend decades in prison. This sentence sends a strong message to these defendants, who will have plenty of time to think about their appalling actions," said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. "These individuals conspired to manipulate and exploit vulnerable victims through calculated online tactics that have no place in our Michigan communities. Thanks to the diligent investigative work of our FBI Lansing Resident Agency, with the assistance from the FBI Knoxville Resident Agency, and additional assets throughout the Bureau, this disturbing scheme was uncovered, and the defendants were brought to justice."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Austin J. Hakes prosecuted it.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.

Combatting online child sexual abuse remains a priority for the Department of Justice. To report an incident of actual or suspected online child sexual exploitation, call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's (NCMEC) 24-Hour Call Center at 1-800-843-5678, submit a CyberTip report to NCMEC at report.cybertip.orgLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link., or contact the FBI at tips.fbi.gov.