Tiburon babysitter pleads guilty to producing, distributing child porn
By MATTHEW HOSE
mhose@thearknewspaper.com
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SAN FRANCISCO — A Tiburon babysitter has pleaded guilty to five child pornography charges, admitting that he coerced at least one minor into sexual activity to create child porn and that he conspired with another man to exchange the explicit images.
Bryan Petersen, 24, faces 30 to 110 years in prison as part of a plea deal in which he agreed to assist authorities in related cases in exchange for a shorter term. He entered the guilty plea in San Francisco’s U.S. District Court on July 26, saying he produced, distributed, received and possessed child pornography, and that he conspired with a Santa Cruz County man, 19-year-old Ryan Michael Spencer of Aptos, to distribute and receive child pornography.
Prosecutors in Petersen’s case added the allegation of production of child pornography, which carries the longest potential prison term of the five complaints, just one day before his hearing.
Spencer pleaded not guilty to four child pornography charges in May, and his case is still pending. It was unclear whether the assistance Petersen agreed to provide in the plea bargain would be related to the case against Spencer.
Petersen’s attorney, Daniel Blank, and his father declined to comment on the case outside the courtroom.
Prosecutors say Petersen, who has worked as a babysitter and chess coach and led trips as an Eagle Scout, and allegedly Spencer, a camp counselor who was studying to be a teacher, “solicited jobs … in order to gain access to children; that they sought physical contact with the children and encouraged them to remove their clothes; that they took photos of the children entrusted to their care while the children were naked; and that they shared those images with at least each other,” according to a motion from U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch dated May 3.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said at a detention hearing that parents of victims who were babysat by Petersen in the Tiburon area came forward, with one parent saying they thought Petersen was “grooming” their child for sexual activity.
The case against Petersen first began in 2015, when FBI agents were tipped off by an unnamed witness who claimed they had first seen child pornography on Petersen’s computer as early as 2013. That witness had continuous access to Petersen’s email and Dropbox online storage accounts and seemed to be monitoring them from time to time.
An FBI raid of Petersen’s home on April 26 turned up a hard drive with 10,000 to 100,000 images and videos of child pornography.
During an interview with FBI agents that day, Petersen said he had a blank hard drive delivered to Spencer. Spencer then allegedly filled the hard drive with the pornography, and Petersen picked it up in Aptos, according to an affidavit.
Spencer was arrested the day after Petersen’s FBI interview.
On May 16, Spencer and Petersen both pleaded not guilty to distributing, receiving, possessing and conspiring to distribute and receive child pornography.
Prosecutors had not filed an additional charge of production of child pornography against Spencer by The Ark’s press deadline, and it was unclear whether they intended to do so.
Spencer has a status update hearing set for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 30 in San Francisco’s U.S. District Court.
Reporter Matthew Hose covers the city of Belvedere, as well as crime, courts and public safety issues on the Tiburon Peninsula. Reach him at 415–944–4627 and on Twitter at @matt_hose.
