ALBANY, GA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Criminal - Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section), published as received.

ALBANY, Ga. – An Alabama resident was sentenced to serve more than a decade in prison after he was caught by an undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent distributing child sexual abuse material of young female children online while he was living in Southwest Georgia.

Bradley Love, 37, of Dothan, Alabama, and formerly of Blakely, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 135 months in prison to be followed by 25 years of supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner on June 29 after he previously pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography on Feb. 26. In addition, he will have to register as a sex offender for life. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Our office will tirelessly pursue all those who exploit children online and hold them accountable for their crimes at the federal level,” said U.S. Attorney William R “Will” Keyes. “Working alongside law enforcement, we will use every resource available to safeguard children and bring offenders to justice.” 

“Let this serve as a warning: Anyone who distributes child sexual abuse material will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama Steven N. Schrank. “HSI’s undercover operations are designed to expose predators who target children online. We will not tolerate these crimes, and we will use every tool at our disposal to protect children and ensure offenders are removed from our communities.”

According to court documents and statements referenced in court, an undercover agent with HSI joined a “teen chat” room on a website called “chat-avenue.com” on Dec. 7, 2023, and posted “Dad of 2 8yro and 10yro.” Soon after, the agent received a private message from an individual with a screen name of “Whiteranger,” who was Love.

During the undercover investigation, Love asked the agent about his daughters and if he had sexually abused them. Love then asked the undercover agent to move their conversation to the messaging platform, Kik. On Kik, Love sent the undercover agent a photo of male genitals and requested explicit photos of his daughters. Love also relayed he had child sexual abuse material of children he wanted to share, but that he didn’t want to be kicked off Kik for sharing CSAM, and requested to move that conversation to another platform, Session.

On Session, Love’s screenname was “Jackkfrost.” Love sent one photo of a naked prepubescent female child, one picture of two naked female children, and a picture of a prepubescent female engaging in sexually explicit conduct to the undercover agent. HSI investigators located the defendant at his home address in Blakely, Georgia. On Sept. 5, 2024, HSI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Early County Sheriff’s Office executed a federal search warrant at Love’s Blakely residence. Several electronic items belonging to Love were seized: one cell phone contained approximately 139 images depicting CSAM, and a second cell phone contained two images depicting CSAM. Love told investigators he was interested in minor children who were “toddler age,” and confirmed that he sent and received CSAM on these platforms.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

For more information about HSI’s efforts to protect children from sexual predators, visit Know2Protect.gov. To report suspicious activities, call 787-729-6969.

HSI investigated the case with assistance from the GBI and the Early County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Monica Daniels and Julius Jefferson prosecuted the case for the Government.