In a stark reveal of betrayal within a Rolla, Missouri church community, a former church youth ministry volunteer has openly confessed to charges involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Bradley Thomas Colvin stood before U.S. District Court in St. Louis yesterday and pleaded guilty to one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the 52-year-old admitted to not just viewing but also actively seeking to download CSAM for years. The stash he had amassed was nothing short of chilling, with investigators discovering a total of at least 833 videos and 5,566 images across multiple devices.

The unsettling account of Colvin's actions began to unravel after a Missouri State Highway Patrol officer, entrenched in peer-to-peer file-sharing investigations, discovered Colvin's illicit activities online. This incriminating exchange set in motion a court-sanctioned search of Colvin's home, a search that would lead to his admission of historical sexual misconduct involving a minor at a pool party.

As the case progresses towards a sentencing date of June 18, the U.S. Attorney’s Office preps to request a sentence of 10 years, starkly exceeding the mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison. The handling of this case was executed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson under the banner of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative started by the Department of Justice in 2006 with the aim to aggressively pinpoint and prosecute individuals exploiting children through the internet.

Project Safe Childhood coordinates efforts between U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, leveraging federal, state, and local resources. This coordinated approach hopes to more effectively locate and bring to justice those who engage in child exploitation and to also work proactively in the rescue of victims.