Manassas Park man faces child pornography charges

A Manassas Park man was charged with distributing child pornography after police searched his home on Sept. 30.

His is the second arrest in less than a month stemming from local police officers investigating child porn.

In early September, the Manassas police cyber crimes unit began an undercover investigation aiming to locate the source of child pornography they believed was being distributed locally over the Web.

During the investigation, Detective D. E. Abbot located a computer at an address in Manassas Park where he believed the pornographic images were originating, said city police Sgt. Tim Neumann.

Manassas and Manassas Park police, with the help of the U.S. Department of Justice Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, served a search warrant at 114 Morton Court in Manassas Park.

There they found several computers containing alleged child pornography, said Neumann.

Bruce Edward Brown, 51, was charged with distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography, Neumann said.

Brown was held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 18.

Two days before Brown’s arrest, police in Missouri captured a 64-year-old man, who a Dumfries police officer said sent him photos of child pornography while he was posing as a 13-year-old boy.

In June, Dumfries police officer John Chapman began exchanging messages over the Internet with the Missouri man, who he said sent him numerous photos of underage boys and girls engaged in various sex acts, according to a Dumfries police press release.

On Sept. 28, authorities obtained a warrant and searched the Everton, Mo. home of Robert V. Hoffman Jr. They found thousands of images of children being sexually abused, according to the Dumfries police press release.

Hoffman, who was charged in 1977 with four counts of raping a child, now faces 25 counts of distributing child pornography.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.