Former FBI Contractor Pleads Guilty To Child Pornography Charges: Feds

ARLINGTON, VA — An Arlington man who worked as a contractor for the FBI pleaded guilty on Tuesday to child pornography and child sexual exploitation charges, according to federal prosecutors.

Brett Janes, 26, of Arlington is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 27, 2024 and faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said Tuesday. He pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of receipt of child pornography.

Beginning in February, Janes “groomed a 13-year-old minor (MV1) to transition from playing Valorant with him, a popular first-person shooter game, to engaging in ‘strip’ games on a video chat function in Discord,” the U.S. attorney’s office said. “Although MV1 did not want to play this game, Janes employed threats of suicide, various money payments through CashApp, and flattery, until MV1 produced CSAM for him.”

After getting a search warrant, law enforcement officials learned that Janes was communicating with at least a dozen other minors, prosecutors said. Of those minors, he convinced one 12-year-old boy to produce sexual abuse material and attempted to entice another 14-year-old boy to produce sexual abuse material, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

“Janes manipulated these minors by befriending, flattering, and outright begging them for content,” prosecutors said. “A review of his devices revealed he purchased hundreds of videos and images of [child sexual abuse material] from the internet, including graphic videos of prepubescent children being raped.”

The U.S. attorney’s office said assistance was provided by the Arlington County Police Department and the Galloway Township Police Department in New Jersey in its investigation into Janes.