(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Justice Department announced Wednesday that a former FBI contractor has been charged with sexual exploitation of children and child pornography charges.
According to the DOJ, Virginia man Brett Janes, 26, contacted roughly a dozen minor boys over Discord and Snapchat.
Janes allegedly groomed the minors by telling them he worked for a U.S. intelligence agency before repeatedly threatening suicide if the minors did not continue to communicate with him.
In one instance, he allegedly enticed a 13-year-old boy whom he met through the first-person shooter game Valorant, to strip and masturbate over a live video Discord call by threatening to kill himself and by paying him money over CashApp.
Janes also allegedly enticed a 12-year-old boy to create and send him child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, over Discord through flattery and repeated begging—sending messages such as “please just answer so i am not being crazy and stupid for sending 500 bucks to a 14 yr old.”
The DOJ said Janes was successful in manipulating some boys in sending him porn.
“Janes allegedly received child sexual abuse material from these two minors, as well as two separate minor victims, and attempted to meet up with a minor,” the DOJ said in a press release.
“He also allegedly purchased hundreds of videos and images of child sexual abuse material from Telegram.”
According to an FBI affidavit, Janes’s crimes were discovered by the father of one of the victims. The father contacted local police, who then relayed the case to the FBI around April.
By May, the FBI confirmed that Janes was a contractor within a headquarters unit in the FBI, the affidavit said.
Janes is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of children and production of CSAM, one count of attempted coercion and enticement, and one count of receipt of child pornography. He faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.
There appears to be an epidemic of child predators working as contractors for federal agencies. Buzzfeed revealed in December 2021 that the CIA has secretly amassed credible evidence that at least 10 of its employees and contractors committed sexual crimes involving children.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
