If no lawyer is listed, call 918-582-6422 and MoreLaw will help you find a lawyer for free.

Description: Indianapolis, Indiana criminal defense lawyer represented defendant charged with sexually exploiting a 16-year-old minor and possessing child sexual abuse material.

Brett Cearing, age 30, of Attica, Indiana, was living with his girlfriend and her 14-year-old daughter in Attica. Beginning on May 4, 2020, and continuing until August 11, 2020, Cearing sexually exploited a 16-year-old child who was visiting his girlfriend’s daughter at Cearing’s residence. Cearing surreptitiously recorded the victim using a hidden camera disguised as a cell phone charger in a bathroom. The camera captured the child as she showered, used the restroom, and undressed. Cearing edited the videos and images to focus on the child’s genitalia and admitted in court that he recorded the child because he had a sexual interest in her. He hid the images and videos he produced of the minor child in a “Hyper Tornado Secret Calculator” application that featured a way to hide images and videos from view unless the user entered a certain key sequence on the calculator. Cearing also attempted to record his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter as she showered.

After Cearing was initially charged in August 2020 with child exploitation and voyeurism by the Fountain County Prosecutor’s Office, he posted bond and was released on pretrial supervision. On January 17, 2021, during his pretrial release, Cearing was arrested and charged with public indecency after he allegedly exposed himself and masturbated to a young woman in the Love’s parking lot in Knightstown, Indiana. Cearing was then charged with sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography by federal complaint in the Southern District of Indiana and ordered detained by a federal magistrate judge.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana and Herbert J. Stapleton, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Indianapolis Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Violent Crime Task Force investigated the case. The Fountain County Sheriff’s Department also provided valuable assistance. As part of Cearing’s sentence, Judge Barker ordered that he be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 7 years following his release from prison and pay $10,000 in restitution to the victim. Cearing must also register as sex offender wherever he lives, works, or goes to school, as required by law.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany J. Preston who prosecuted this case.

In fiscal year 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, the Southern District of Indiana was second out of the 94 federal districts in the country for the number of child sexual exploitation cases prosecuted.

Outcome: 06/24/2022 53 JUDGMENT as to BRETT CEARING (1); Defendant plead guilty to counts 1-3. IMPRISONMENT: 180 months (concurrent terms of 180 months on each of Counts 1 and 2, and 108 months on Count 3). SUPERVISED RELEASE: 7 years per count, all concurrent. SA FEE: $300.00. RESTITUTION: $10,000.00. Signed by Judge Sarah Evans Barker on 6/24/2022. Electronic notice to USM-C. (CKM) (Entered: 06/24/2022)

06/24/2022 55 ORDER as to BRETT CEARING; This matter is before the Court on the United States' Motion to Maintain Payee Identity Under Seal. The Court, being duly advised, now GRANTS said motion for the reasons set forth in the motion. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Government's Sealed Notice of Payee Identity (Dkt. 51) be maintained under seal. Signed by Judge Sarah Evans Barker on 6/24/2022. (CKM) (Entered: 06/24/2022)

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: