MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Phone calls from a man accused of photographing boys as they dressed in a YMCA locker room led to charges Friday for a Columbus, Minn., man who allegedly did the same thing.
Forty-nine-year-old Christopher Bradshaw faces charges for allegedly making a video of boys changing at the Andover YMCA and of possessing child porn, a criminal complaint filed Friday shows.
Anoka County sheriff’s deputies began to investigate Bradshaw after having listened to the phone calls of Robert Minor. That 53-year-old man is currently in the Anoka County Jail and is accused of videotaping boys in various states of undress at more than one YMCA.
Police found videos in Minor’s possession that he allegedly shot with a watch that records video. But officers also found video made with an iPhone and shot in what appeared to be the Andover YMCA.
After being arrested in early March, Minor made several calls to a number found on a website belonging to a company called Independent Security Solutions. On the site, the number Minor called is listed as Bradshaw’s cell, and a photo of Bradshaw is featured.
Officers then reviewed the iPhone video found in Minor’s possession. That video shows two young boys changing after leaving the pool. The video also shows the facial features of its creator. From the photo on Independent Security Solutions’ website, officers were able to identify the creator as Bradshaw, the complaint said.
Officers spoke with the YMCA, which said Bradshaw was a member and that on Feb. 3 he checked into the Andover YMCA with two guests.
The identities of those two guests (hereafter: victims) were learned when officers executed a search warrant at Bradshaw’s home. The victims are friends of Bradshaw, the complaint said.
In interviews with authorities, the victims said they went swimming with Bradshaw in early February. When one was asked if any part of the trip made him uncomfortable, he said it was when they “all changed together,” the complaint said.
While searching Bradshaw’s house, officers seized computers, one of which forensic analysis showed to have several hundred images of child porn in a thumbnail cache. (A thumbnail cache stores reduced-sized versions of images displayed on the computer.) Officers did no locate the original image files. They said those were likely stored on another device and plugged into the computer.
Bradshaw’s criminal history shows convictions for lewd and lascivious conduct in 1994 and for first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim younger than 13 in 1997. He was discharged from probation in October of last year.
Charges:
Bradshaw faces two counts of interference with privacy and two counts of possessing child pornography. If convicted of all charges, Bradshaw could get a maximum sentence of up to 14 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine.
