Vandalia Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Charges

Vandalia resident Bradley L. Matthews Tuesday entered a plea of guilty to distribution of child pornography in federal court in East St. Louis.

According to court documents, Matthews came to the attention of law enforcement in February 2019 during an FBI undercover internet investigation of child pornography. During the investigation, an undercover officer engaged in a conversation with Matthews during which he sent the undercover officer three videos depicting child pornography. In an interview with law enforcement on September 5, 2019, Matthews admitted distributing child pornography. When shown the printout of the conversation with the undercover officer that took place on February 5, 2019, Matthews identified himself as the person in the profile picture and admitted that he was the person who had engaged in the conversation with the undercover officer and distributed the child pornography videos.

Matthews faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years but not more than 20 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000 and the possibility of a lifetime term of supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for February 24, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. in East St. Louis.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”