OXFORD, Miss. -- A recruiter for the U.S. Marine Corps held without bond since September on a state sexual battery charge has been indicted by a federal grand jury on sex and child pornography charges.
The state charge against Brady Patrick Dean, 24, of Tupelo, includes one underage female victim. The new federal charges list at least two minor victims.
Dean was indicted Dec. 4 and charged with two counts of the sexual exploitation of a child and two counts of receiving child sexual abuse material (pornography). He is accused of asking or enticing the victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct to be filmed or photographed, one on March 12 and the other on Sept. 11. He is also accused of receiving child pornography on June 8 and Sept. 11 or 12.
The exploitation charges carry a minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison apiece. The child pornography charges carry sentences of five to 20 years each.
Dean was transported last week to the Lafayette County Detention Center in Oxford, where he appeared by video for his initial appearance before Magistrate David Sanders in Aberdeen. During his arraignment three days later, the judge ordered Dean be held without bond until trial. The trial is scheduled for February in Oxford before U.S. District Judge Michael Mills.
In September, Dean was arrested by the Tupelo Police Department and charged with the sexual battery of an underage female high school student who was interested in joining the military. During his initial appearance in Tupelo Municipal Court, he was ordered held without bond.
The 17-year-old female victim reported the crime to another agency in early September, but the case was transferred to TPD since the crime allegedly took place inside Dean's residence on Woodlawn Street in Tupelo's Joyner neighborhood.
The underage victim told police Dean had given her alcohol on multiple occasions. During one incident where there were others at Dean's house, she passed out in the bathroom and was told to go lay on a bed. She claims when she woke, Dean was naked and on top of her.
A Tupelo detective testified that she protested, saying "No. I'm 17 and you're my recruiter," but he reportedly disrobed her and they had sex. During a second incident when another Marine was expected, Dean told her if anyone asked her age to say she was 23. She was again plied with alcohol and they again had sex.
At some point, Dean started sending her pictures of his private parts and asked for her to send him nude pictures, which she did. She turned her phone over to police and investigators quickly found the images. A NCIS investigator said officials recovered about 45 pictures and three to four videos.
Because Dean was in a position of trust over the victim, he was charged with sexual battery. In the eyes of the law, it does not matter if the relationship was consensual.
The state charge is currently working its way through the circuit system, and Dean has yet to be indicted. It is not known if the case has been presented to a Lee County grand jury.
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