Des Moines Man Sentenced to 35 Years in Federal Prison for Child Pornography Offenses

DES MOINES, Iowa - A Des Moines man was sentenced August 23, 2024, to 35 years in federal prison for producing and receiving child pornography.

According to public court documents and information presented at sentencing, Brett Michael Bailey, 36, sexually abused a minor and created child pornography of the minor on multiple occasions, including when the minor was twelve years old. In addition, Bailey downloaded tens of thousands of videos and pictures of child pornography from the internet on multiple electronic devices belonging to Bailey. The electronic devices were seized when police executed a search warrant at Bailey's Des Moines residence in October 2023.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Bailey will be required to serve seven years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Bailey was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $145,500 to 34 different victims portrayed in the images collected by Bailey.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The case was investigated by the Iowa DCI's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, and FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

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 U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.