Man charged with distributing child porn

COEUR d’LENE — A man accused of posing as a teen boy in order to solicit sexually explicit photos from minors is being held on $1 million bail.

Brett L. Nearing, 59, of Hayden, is charged with sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16 and with six counts of sexual exploitation of a child by distribution or production of sexually explicit material, all felonies.

In December 2021, the instant messaging app Snapchat reported to law enforcement an account that had distributed images believed to be child sexual abuse material.

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force took up the investigation, reportedly tracing the Snapchat account to Nearing’s IP address.

Police reportedly obtained photos and chat logs indicating Nearing pretended to be a teen boy in order to chat with minor girls — many of them younger than 15 — and solicit nude photos from them.

When questioned by police, Nearing allegedly admitted to soliciting photos from hundreds of girls. He told police he traded some of the images with other people, in exchange for more child sexual abuse material.

If girls wanted to stop sending nude photos, Nearing said, he threatened to publicly post the photos they had already sent him.

He also allegedly paid about 50 girls to send him sexually explicit photos.

Police seized several electronic devices that belonged to Nearing, which he reportedly told them contained “hundreds” of images of child sexual abuse.

Investigators found sexually explicit images on the devices involving animals and children as young as infants, according to court documents.

Police arrested Nearing on Wednesday.

First District Judge James Stow ordered Thursday that Nearing be held on $1 million bail.

In Idaho, sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16 is punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Sexual exploitation of a child is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.