LOS ANGELES
A former Long Beach Police officer was sentenced Monday to five years and 10 months in federal prison for distributing sexually explicit images of children, including when he was on duty, officials stated.
U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips sentenced Anthony Brown, 57, formerly of Lakewood and who now resides in Island, Kentucky, officials stated.
He was also ordered to pay a fine of $15,000 and to be placed on lifetime supervised release once he is released from prison, according to authorities.
Brown pleaded guilty on March 21 to one count of distribution of child pornography.
From October 2019 through May 2020, Brown used MeWe, an internet-based messaging application, to engage in graphic sex chats with other users in which he posed as his wife and discussed encouraging fictitious minor female relatives to participate in group sex acts.
While logged on and while he was on duty as a Long Beach Police Department officer, Brown distributed images of teenage and prepubescent girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct, officials stated.
On May 27, 2020, a Long Beach Police detective called Brown and told him that an account associated with his phone number had been used to upload child pornography.
Brown was a Long Beach Police officer for 27 years.
He left the force in 2021 after his arrest on state charges of possession and distribution of child pornography.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office dismissed those charges in light of the federal case.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Long Beach Police Department investigated this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathrynne N. Seiden of the General Crimes Section prosecuted this case.