A Dothan man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison after admitting to distributing child sexual abuse material online.
According to multiple reports, 37-year-old Bradley Love, who previously lived in Blakely, Georgia, was sentenced Monday to 135 months in federal prison after pleading guilty on Feb. 26 to one count of distribution of child pornography. Chief U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner also ordered Love to serve 25 years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence and to register as a sex offender for life.
Because there is no parole in the federal prison system, Love will serve the full 135-month sentence before beginning supervised release.
Federal prosecutors said the investigation began on Dec. 7, 2023, when an undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent entered a “teen chat” room on Chat-Avenue.com while posing as the father of two young daughters.
According to court records, Love, using the screen name “Whiteranger,” privately contacted the undercover agent and asked sexually explicit questions about the fictitious children. Investigators said the conversation later moved to the messaging platforms Kik and Session, where Love allegedly sent an image of male genitalia, requested sexually explicit images of the children and distributed three files depicting young girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
On Sept. 5, 2024, federal agents, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Early County Sheriff’s Office, executed a search warrant at Love’s residence in Blakely, Georgia.
During the search, investigators recovered two cell phones. According to court documents, one phone contained 139 images of child sexual abuse material, while a second phone contained two additional images. Authorities said Love admitted to investigators that he targeted toddler-age children and acknowledged using online platforms to send and receive child sexual abuse material.
It remains unclear how long Love had been distributing the material before federal authorities intercepted the online communications.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Monica Daniels and Julius Jefferson prosecuted the case as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, a nationwide program launched in 2006 to combat the sexual exploitation of children.
