Hayden man jailed for possessing child sexual abuse material

HAYDEN — A man who admitted to possessing more than 800 videos of child sexual abuse material is in jail on $250,000 bail. 

Brandon D. Ove, 27, of Hayden, is charged with six counts of sexual exploitation by possession of sexually exploitative material and one count of sexual exploitation by distribution of sexually exploitative material, all felonies. 

The Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force began investigating Ove last May after the file hosting service Dropbox reported that a user, later identified as Ove, had uploaded child sexual abuse material to his account, according to court records. 

Police reviewed the contents of Ove’s Dropbox account and identified 62 files of “suspected child sexual abuse material,” according to court records. These files depicted children who appeared to be between the ages of 2 and 14. 

Ove also allegedly distributed child sexual abuse material to others via private messages on X, formerly known as Twitter, according to court records. 

Police executed a search warrant for Ove’s residence in Hayden on Tuesday. 

When questioned by police, Ove allegedly admitted to using his phone to view child sexual abuse material and said he possessed more than 800 such videos. An initial examination of Ove’s phone yielded more than 100 videos depicting child sexual abuse, according to court records. 

Police arrested Ove at his residence on a $250,000 warrant. 

In 2019, Ove was charged with rape after law enforcement discovered his sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. In Idaho, a person aged 16 or 17 cannot consent to sex with a person who is more than three years older. 

Ove pleaded guilty to the amended charge of injury to a child, a misdemeanor. In exchange for Ove’s guilty plea, he received a suspended sentence of one year in jail and was placed on supervised probation for two years.