Former City Council candidate charged after allegedly photoshopping himself sexually assaulting a child
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IDAHO FALLS — A former Idaho Falls City Council candidate has been arrested after a cybertip led investigators to find a trove of explicit content of children, including content involving him.
Christopher Joseph Brunt, 47, is facing 12 felony charges of possession of child sexual exploitation materials.
Each count carries the potential punishment of up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
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According to court documents, on March 18, an investigator with Idaho’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force was assigned to investigate a cybertip filed by Google with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The tip from Google stated that Brunt had uploaded eight images of possible child pornography. These files depict a restrained nude boy, between 7 and 8 years of age, and six images of an adult man performing sex acts on a doll.
In the background of those six images, children’s playground equipment was visible.
The investigator took screenshots of the equipment and searched online to see if it matched any local businesses. After searching online, the investigator found that the photos were taken at an outpatient therapy center near Hitt Road.
It was later learned that the therapy center no longer has this equipment following a flood.
The investigator visited the therapy center and spoke with the staff, who recommended contacting a cleaning service that regularly services the facility.
Contacting the owner of the cleaning service revealed that Brunt was an employee at the time when the playground equipment was still at the center. The document does not state if the man in the six images is Brunt.
On April 8, after obtaining a search warrant for Brunt’s residence, law enforcement executed it at approximately 7:30 a.m. The agencies involved included the ICAC task force, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Pocatello Police Department, and Chubbuck Police Department.
Brunt was detained and taken to the Idaho Falls Police Complex for an interview.
After his Miranda Rights were read to him, Brunt asked for an attorney before speaking with investigators.
The document states that Brunt asked the investigator what would happen and was told that if the data on his phone wasn’t fully downloaded, he would either get a ride home or be taken to jail. Brunt told the investigator that he isn’t going home.
What was found on his phone
The document states that the search of his phone resulted in around 100 images of Artificial Intelligence or computer-generated images that depict infants and children being raped or sexually assaulted.
There were 34 images that were collages that show numerous images of child pornography, with one being described in the document depicting an infant and a girl between 1 and 6 years of age, naked or sexually assaulted. Another collage shows boys between 1 and 12 years being abused in a similar manner.
Other images depict infants, boys, and girls who are not made with AI being sexually abused.
Two of the images described in the documents involve Brunt himself.
One of the images shows Brunt, who is nude, wearing a Santa hat and photoshopped images of 11 boys, believed to be under the age of 10, around him. The other image shows Brunt naked and a photoshopped boy that makes it appear that he is performing sex acts on him.
Brunt is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Michael Kirkham at 1 p.m. on April 22 for a preliminary hearing.
Though Brunt has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.