A Chatham County man has been sentenced to nearly 30 years in federal prison after admitting to multiple charges of child sexual exploitation. He possessed thousands of images of child sexual abuse.
Rodney Bryant, 38, of Savannah, was sentenced to 336 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to Production of Child Pornography, and Possession of Child Pornography, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood also ordered Bryant to pay $413,800 in restitution to four victims, to register as a sex offender, and to serve 15 years of supervised release after completion of his prison term.
There is no parole in the federal system.
“Rodney Bryant is a dangerous predator who exploited multiple children by sharing images of sexual abuse through the internet’s electronic cesspool,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “The dedicated work of our law enforcement partners ensures our communities will be safer with this criminal behind bars.”
Bryant had been scheduled for trial in June 2022 when he opted to plead guilty to two child exploitation charges. As described in court documents and testimony, agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the Savannah Police Department searched Bryant’s residence in 2020 after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provided CyberTip reports regarding the origin of images of child sexual abuse to the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Following those leads, investigators identified Bryant and later seized dozens of electronic devices from his home, finding thousands of images of child sexual abuse and child erotica on those devices. The investigation determined Bryant produced many of those images in Georgia and while stationed with the U.S. Army in Fort Drum, N.Y.
“Bryant is a predator who not only abused children, but he also recorded these horrible acts for others to see. Thankfully, he will no longer be able to continue his deplorable acts of abuse and we all can breathe a little easier,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and its partners will continue to find, arrest and prosecute those who seek to exploit our most vulnerable population.”
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Savannah Police Department, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer J. Kirkland and Project Safe Childhood Coordinator Tara M. Lyons.
This investigation took place under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood. Anyone with information on suspected child sexual exploitation can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-843-5678, or https://report.cybertip.org/.
