Former FBI contractor admits to grooming young boys online, pleads guilty to child exploitation charge
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A former FBI contractor pleaded guilty Tuesday in court to production and receipt of child sexual abuse material.
Brett Janes, 26, of Arlington, was charged back in August after a federal grand jury returned an indictment.
Janes allegedly contacted roughly a dozen young boys over Discord and Snapchat. Court docs state that he groomed the minors by telling them he worked for a U.S. intelligence agency before repeatedly threatening suicide if the minors did not continue to communicate with him.
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Former FBI contractor charged with child exploitation
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a former FBI contractor with sexual exploitation of children.
According to court documents, Janes groomed a 13-year-old he met through a first-person shooter computer game called "Valorant." He's also accused of convincing a 12-year-old to produce child sexual abuse material.
Investigators believe Janes purchased hundreds of videos and images of child sexual abuse material from Telegram.
He will be sentenced in February and faces a minimum of 15 years in prison.