September 21, 2006
Area Little League coach arrested on child pornography charges
FRESNO - A longtime area Little League baseball coach is expected to
make his initial appearance in federal court here tomorrow morning on
a criminal complaint charging him with possessing and receiving child
pornography over the Internet.
Bradly Nelson, 46, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and deputies from the Fresno County
Sheriff's Department at his Sanger home early this morning. Officers
from the Sanger Police Department also assisted with the arrest.
ICE and the Fresno County Sheriff's Department began investigating
Nelson, who has been a Little League baseball coach in the Sanger area
for more than two decades, at the request of the Sanger Police
Department. The affidavit filed in the case states that the Sanger
Police Department contacted ICE after receiving allegations that the
coach previously molested two of his underage players and showed one
of them child pornography. Local authorities are continuing to
investigate the molestation allegations.
After being interviewed by ICE agents in July, Nelson consented to
have his computer hard drive examined using forensic analysis. That
analysis revealed numerous images of child pornography, including
depictions of prepubescent boys and girls engaging in sexually
explicit activity. According to the affidavit, forensics experts also
determined that Nelson had recently used the computer to search the
Internet for child pornography.
"This case is particularly troubling because of the suspect's
longstanding contact with young people," said Scott Brown, the
resident agent in charge of the ICE office of investigations in
Fresno. "ICE will continue to work closely with its local law
enforcement partners to investigate those who prey upon and sexually
exploit our children."
Because of the circumstances of the case, investigators are concerned
there may be unidentified victims. ICE urges anyone who has
information regarding this matter to contact the Sanger Police
Department at (559) 875-8521.
If convicted on the two current counts, Nelson faces a maximum
sentence of 30 years in prison.
The charges against Nelson are part of Operation Predator, an ongoing
ICE initiative to identify, investigate, and arrest those who prey on
children. Since ICE launched Operation Predator in July of 2003, the
agency has arrested more than 8,200 sex offenders nationwide,
including more than 2,000 in California.
Additional information about Operation Predator is available on the
Web at www.ice.gov. ICE encourages the reporting of suspected child
predators through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This
hotline is 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, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.
-- ICE --
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in
March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of
Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of four integrated divisions that
form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities
for a number of key homeland security priorities.
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