Cody Dean Brownlow, Child Pornography and Stalking, Missouri 2023

A Texas man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for distributing child pornography and stalking his ex-girlfriends in the St. Louis area, authorities said.

Cody Dean Brownlow, 41, pleaded guilty in May to one count of distribution of child pornography and two counts of stalking in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, his plea agreement says.

The investigation found that Brownlow sent threatening text and voice messages, including rape threats, to an ex-girlfriend and her adult daughter in 2022. He also sent them files containing child sexual abuse material, the FBI said.

During the investigation, two more ex-girlfriends reported that Brownlow had harassed and threatened them and sent them child sexual abuse material, a sentencing memo filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman says.

In April of 2023, a court-approved search of Brownlow’s home in Austin, Texas, resulted in the seizure of cell phones and other electronic devices that contained 1,601 images and 19 videos containing child pornography.

The FBI and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

Brownlow’s sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, which marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative that was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.