Man sentenced in child porn case

Wednesday, September 23, 2009
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

GAINESVILLE - A Gainesville man will spend the next nine years in prison after being convicted in federal court of receiving child pornography.

Charles R. Van Brackle, 49, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to the charge on July 17. He was also sentenced to lifetime supervised release and fined $2,000.

Authorities said Brackle's home computer contained more than 1,000 sexually explicit images of prepubescent children.

Gregory Jones, special agent-in-charge of the FBI's Atlanta office, said going after people like Van Brackle is one of the bureau's vital missions.

"The extensive collection of child pornography by the defendant is indicative of an individual who has likely been involved in this exploitive behavior for quite some time," he said. "We are appreciative of the sentence handed down today and feel that as a result, the community is a safer place."

Van Brackle was originally identified, authorities said, when his name and identifying information were linked to child pornography investigations in Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative geared toward protecting children from online abuse and exploitation.

In January, FBI and Georgia Bureau of Investigations agents searched Van Brackle's home, where they found the computer. The hard drive, agents said, was sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Child Victim Identification Program. Many of the images were determined to be those of known child exploitation victims.

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