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BRIGHAM CITY — A Brigham City man was ordered to spend at least 180 days in jail and three years on probation after police say he used his son's confiscated phone to solicit nude photos from six minors.
Brandon Courtney Searle, 40, pleaded guilty in Brigham City's 1st District Court on June 26 to six counts of attempted dealing in materials harmful to a minor by a defendant 18 or older, a class A misdemeanor.
Searle received the maximum sentence for each count, for a total of six terms of 364 days each, or just under six years, to be served consecutively. But those sentences, minus 180 days, are suspended if Searle successfully completes his three years of probation.
He must also pay a court fine of $553.
On May 9, 2022, a woman told Brigham City police that Searle, her juvenile son's father, had used the son's Instagram account to request nude photos from five girls and one boy on the son's friend list, per a police booking affidavit. The messages were sent between May 8, 2022, and May 9, 2022, the affidavit said.
Police served a search warrant to Instagram, which provided messages and a photo of Searle in his bedroom in Brigham City that he had sent to one of the girls he messaged, according to court documents. Police also served a warrant to Beehive Broadband, which confirmed the IP address was the internet connection at Searle's home, the affidavit said.
The mother said their son was with her in Wyoming when the messages were sent, and that Searle had confiscated their son's phone and admitted to getting on his Instagram account, court documents said.
"He claimed to not have recollection of the messages being sent, but understood the evidence was that he did," police said in the affidavit. "He described being very angry with his son at that time and drinking alcohol on a nightly basis."
Searle was originally booked on investigation of four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a third-degree felony, and online impersonation for assuming his son's identity. None of the minors sent images in response to Searle's requests, which is why the initial investigation on sexual exploitation of a minor was reduced to misdemeanor charges.
