For distributing child pornography and photos of Anchorage students, a former school employee will spend 15 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason handed the sentence down to 34-year-old Daniel Brown on Friday after Brown pleaded guilty to a single count of sexual exploitation of a child by distributing child pornography.
Anchorage police were initially referred the case by the New Zealand Police Department after one of their undercover detectives came across a screen name — later connected to Brown — that was actively sharing pornographic images displaying children via a file-sharing website. The IP address being used was administered by an Alaska internet company.
Agents from Anchorage’s Federal Bureau of Investigation office assisted police in locating and identifying Brown. More than 40,000 images and videos were found on Brown’s computer, an estimated 100GB by Brown’s estimation, court records show. Also found were non-pornographic images of Anchorage school children obtained from social media pages belonging to parents in the school district, according to a statement from the U.S. District Attorney’s office.
Brown was arrested in December of 2014 and waived his rights in order to speak with police. He told them he had been viewing and trading child pornography for roughly 10 years. According to the DA’s office, his crimes began shortly after he was hired to work by Anchorage schools in 2006 and continued until his arrest.
One victim shown in images found on Brown’s computer submitted a statement with the state’s sentencing memorandum, highlighting the pain of knowing the sexual abuse they suffered would live on in photos and videos shared with hundreds of other people:
Every time someone else sees pictures or videos of me it feels like they are the ones who hurt me to begin with. It feels like they are the ones who did this to me, like they are [my original victimizer] and they just want to use me for their own pleasure. It is like I am just here for other people’s pleasure and am not a person myself with my own wants and needs. If you are looking at me, or any other child for that matter, then you are hurting every one that you look at. Anyone who looks at those horrible pictures of me or other children are abusing us.
Brown was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution and, once released from prison, will be under supervision for the rest of his life. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
