Columbia County man sentenced to federal prison for production of child pornography

AUGUSTA, GA:  A Columbia County man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for creating sexually explicit images of children.

Edmund Brown, 36, of Martinez, Ga., was sentenced to 360 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to two counts of Production of Child Pornography, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall also ordered Brown to pay $113,460.25 in restitution, serve 20 years of supervised release and to register as a sex offender upon completion of his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

“By creating sexually explicit images of minors, Edmund Brown has sentenced these victims to a lifetime of trauma,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “Although this prosecution will not erase that trauma, it will hold him accountable for his predatory behavior.”

As described in court documents and testimony, agents from Homeland Security Investigations reviewed images found on multiple electronic devices seized from Brown in May 2022 and discovered Brown had used his cell phone and a hidden camera to capture sexually explicit images of two children during a more than two-year period.

Brown later was charged via information and pled guilty in U.S. District Court in March 2023.

“Every time one of these disturbing images is shared or viewed it revictimizes a helpless child and prevents them from healing,” said HSI Atlanta acting Special Agent in Charge Travis Pickard, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and its law enforcement partners are committed to protecting our vulnerable population from exploitation.”

Anyone with information on suspected child sexual exploitation can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-843-5678, or https://report.cybertip.org/.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, and prosecuted for the United States by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara M. Lyons.