12 years in federal prison for Indianapolis man who shared child porn on Snapchat

Indianapolis (WISH) — The U.S. Dept. of Justice announced that Brad Bevington, 51, of Indianapolis was sentenced to 12.5 years in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse material.

Snapchat submitted a tip to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, investigators say, reporting that an account later proven to be used by Bevington had uploaded the material.

Investigators discovered that Bevington had used Snapchat to send sexually explicit videos involving children to other Snapchat users while he was on bond for similar charges in Marion county.

Court records show Bevington was arrested previously for child exploitation in Marion county in a case related to uploading files depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct to Twitter and Dropbox. Bevington was released on a $100,000 bond in April 2021.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Jeffrey R. Adams, Special Agent in Charge of the USSS Indianapolis Field Office, and Chief Randal Taylor of IMPD made the announcement. 

“Those who sexually exploit children using online platforms are dangerous predators,” said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “These criminals should pay great attention to the sentence imposed today. Our law enforcement partners will identify you and make our children safer by sending you to federal prison.”

The U.S Secret Service and IMPD investigated the case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Jude James R. Sweeney. As part of the sentence, Judge Sweeney ordered Bevington to pay $11,000 in restitution to the child victims, as well as $250 to the Amy, Vicki and Andy Act Fund. Bevington must also register as sex offender wherever he lives, works, or goes to school, as required by law.