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BOUNTIFUL — Two Bountiful men were arrested Tuesday and accused of possessing child pornography.
But according to two police affidavits, federal authorities are now looking at possible charges after evidence of bombmaking materials, guns and drugs were also found.
Michael Swen Bergdorf, 40, and Benjamin Lothar Bergdorf, 37, were each arrested for investigation of eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
The investigation began Aug. 23 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children filed a complaint on behalf of Microsoft stating someone had uploaded or downloaded suspected child pornography via Bing images, according to a police affidavit.
On Tuesday, a search warrant was served at the Bergdorfs’ residence by the FBI Child Exploitation task force along with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
“Michael admitted post-Miranda that he has been seeking child sexual abuse material utilizing the dark web. The content was stored on an external hard drive inside the home,” the affidavit states. “Located inside Benjamin Bergdorf’s bedroom was a thumb drive. The content of that ... drive included images of child sexual abuse material.”
But agents reported finding other items that raised concerns.
“Investigators also removed several firearms, over $20,000 in cash, and one short-barrel AK-47 rifle. Investigators are determining if the firearms were illegally obtained or possessed. Statements were made by one of the suspects that there is a history of hacking into government and private systems to obtain information. There is also an indication illegal drugs are being purchased or transported to the residence, or by at least one suspect,” the affidavit states.
Michael Bergdorf acted as the family accountant, and had made money transfers “between $10,000 and $100,000 with no clear explanation for the purpose,” according to the affidavit.
Furthermore, gas masks and “some material that could be used to make explosive devices” were found in the house with “no reasonable explanation of why it was in residence,” the affidavit states.
“Benjamin Bergdorf also had an encyclopedia to create bombmaking material and had several items to create explosives. The FBI will be handling this investigation separately,” according to the affidavit.
Investigators have requested the Bergdorfs be held without bail, noting that their family “has a high net worth,” and “both parties hold green cards to Germany and could flee prosecution. The case will be screened for federal charges.”
According to his Facebook and LinkedIn pages, Benjamin Bergdorf is a chemist, phlebotomist, EMT and lab technician.
