An Evansville, Indiana man was indicted by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia Thursday in a child pornography case involving the mobile messaging app Kik.
Bradley Robert Segert, 30, faces charges of conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, distribution of child pornography and receipt of child pornography.
Kik is a mobile messaging app headquartered in Canada. The app identifies users through usernames rather than phone numbers, granting further anonymity.
Segert, along with Edward Thomas Parsons, from Alexandria, Virginia, allegedly administered a private group chat on Kik between January and August 2015, dedicated to sharing images and videos of child porn, according to a press release from the Department of Justice
The chat was named “candyland.”
For users to be invited, they had to share child porn with Segert separately. Segert would then share the images with Parsons to decide whether or not to invite them to the group, according to court documents.
A conversation which took place Aug. 9, 2015 between Parsons, using the username “solaiydback” and Segert using the username “brsegert” on Kik appears to show Parsons vetting prospective members.
Parsons: “What the [expletive] about Mike?”
Segert: “He posted cp [child pornography] in open group.”
Segert: “So I figured he had some."
Parsons: “Nothing seen.”
Segert: “I have them. The ones he posted.”
Parsons: “I didn’t approve him.”
When Parsons uploaded child pornography to his Twitter account in January 2015, Twitter reported his IP address, allowing Virginia State Police to trace the account back to Parsons. A forensic search of Parsons' phone found that he had been communicating with brsegert on Kik.
Kik later responded to a subpoena to identify brsegert’s IP address, eventually linking the user to Segert in Indiana.
Law enforcement searched Segert’s house April 26, 2016. During the search, Segert said he started collecting child porn in 2013.
Forensic analysis of a hard drive in Segert’s computer found hundreds of images and videos of child porn. The images include depictions of sex acts with children as young as 6 months and 2 years old.
Segert is being held in the Alexandria Detention Center and was denied a request for bond.
Parsons pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography Wednesday and is scheduled to be sentenced in February 2019, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
In an Aug. 16, 2015 conversation between Parsons, as “solaiydback,” and an unidentified user known as Liz, using the username “beinglizonly,” the two discuss the images they were exchanging.
Parsons: “Yes pls show me. I’m an admin. It’s ok :D Perfect for our private group. Hugs. Btw is that your cute daughter on itaboo pics?”
Liz: “Yes it is.”
Parsons: “You and her naked would be special.”
Liz: “Thanks I was worried you’d say I was sick.”
Parsons: “No, you’re quite normal, good lady.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria, Virginia had no comment on whether or not the Kik group has been shut down or if they will be targeting other members of the group.
This isn’t the first time Kik has been used to distribute child porn. A 2017 investigation by Forbes and Point Report found a large number of child exploitation cases involving the use of Kik. It also found that Kik hasn’t been deleting profiles of those charged and convicted with child abuse cases.
Kik is continuing to assess and improve their online safety measures, Caroline Edwards, a spokeswoman said on behalf of Kik in an email. Kik is doing this through improvements to their technology and partnerships with organizations that help people understand the challenges of today's online landscape.
"This is a priority for us," Edwards said in the email. "We want all users to be safe on Kik and will continue to make Kik a safe, positive and productive place for our users to interact."
Here are just three cases of people charged in child pornography related crimes since Sept. 11. In all three, the accused used Kik in their alleged child exploitation crimes:
- A Macomb, Oklahoma man who investigators say used Kik to share child porn
- A Youngstown, Ohio man accused of using Kik to distribute child porn
- An East Bridgewater, Massachusetts man accused of using Kik to receive child porn
Kik’s website includes a 13-page guide for law enforcement explaining what the app is and how to send a subpoena or warrant to the company.
As of Saturday, it appears that both Segert and Parsons' profiles are still up on Kik.
