Alaska Man Indicted in D.C. on Charges of Distribution of Child Pornography

            WASHINGTON – Brogan T. Welsh, 31, of Anchorage, Alaska, was indicted today in the District of Columbia on charges of distributing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Acting Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            According to court documents, Welsh allegedly was a member of a private group on an internet platform that was dedicated to discussing the sexual exploitation of children and to sharing child sexual abuse materials. In December 2020, Welsh – who was then living near Richmond, Va. – contacted someone on the platform that he believed was the father of a minor child. In actuality, the “father” was an undercover agent with the FBI’s Washington D.C. Field Office. Over the course of several weeks, Welsh allegedly posted links in the group containing numerous images and videos depicting adult males sexually abusing prepubescent boys. Welsh repeatedly expressed his sexual interest in children, and a desire to travel from Virginia to the District of Columbia, in order to sexually abuse the purported child. 

            In an investigation previously thought to be unrelated, agents in the FBI’s Anchorage Office discovered chats between two users on the same social media application again discussing the sexual exploitation of children. The investigation revealed that Welsh was one of the individuals using the social media application to discuss his interest in sexually abusing children.

            On Oct.19, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Welsh’s Anchorage, Alaska, residence. Digital devices were recovered from the residence. Welsh was arrested in the early morning hours of Oct. 22, 2023. He has been ordered temporarily detained. 

            An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

            This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI’s Washington and Anchorage Field Offices. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Larson, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Walker of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Alaska.