Admitted Kiddy P0rn Addict Indicted for Felony Possession of Lewd Images

SAN ANGELO—A San Angelo man has been indicted by a Tom Green County Grand Jury for uploading sexual images of children on Snapchat.

According to court documents, the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that showed an unknown individual had uploaded an image containing suspected child pornography using the Snapchat account titled “unattendedchild” on July 27, 2022. An email address, birthday, and IP address was also provided.

Google was served a grand jury subpoena which returned the information that the email address that was linked to the Snapchat account belonged to Brayden Settles. Investigators were able to identify Settles using the intelligence database CLEAR. From that, Settle’s address was listed on the 3200 block of Abilene Street in San Angelo, Texas.

A subpoena was also submitted to Snapchat, which provided the phone number that was attached to the account. Several attempts were made to log into the account from an Apple iPhone 12 after the lewd image was uploaded.

On February 13, 2023, an investigator executed a search warrant on Settle’s residence on the 3200 block of Abilene Street. Settles was located on scene and was interviewed by the investigator. During the execution of the search warrant, an Apple iPhone 12 was located in Settle’s bedroom and was seized as evidence.

During the interview, Settles allegedly told the investigator that the phone number and Snapchat account “unattendedchild” were his as well as the email address that was provided to law enforcement. Settles also allegedly told the investigator that he has an addiction to pornography and that he has viewed child pornography in the past. He also stated there would be internet searches on his cellphone for child pornography.

The image allegedly uploaded by Settles featured two female children around 10-years-old with their private areas exposed to the camera and is sexual performance or sexual poses.

Settles was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography on February 15, 2023, and was released the next day on $35,000 bond. He will be in court on July 12, 2023, for post indictment reporting.