A Grants Pass man is now in the Josephine County Jail on federal child sex crime charges. Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) began an investigation after receiving a report from the Wisconsin Rapids Police Department in Wisconsin of a child being sexually exploited through Facebook. Through further investigations, SOCET discovered additional child victims in Oregon, Wisconsin, and Louisiana. SOCET worked with Wisconsin Rapids Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to identify the out-of-state victims, and the United States Attorney’s Office to build the federal case.
The suspect, Brandon Cody Gale, 28, of Grants Pass, has been charged with one count of sexual exploitation and attempted sexual exploitation of children as well as one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.
Gale was transferred to the Josephine County Jail on June 1st from the Power River Correctional Facility in Baker City, Oregon where he was serving time on state charges for an unrelated incident.
Gale allegedly found his victims by posing as a teenage boy on various social media sites, including Facebook and Snapchat. He then would coerce his underage victims into performing sexual acts. He stole a teenage male’s online photo to interact with his victims.
It should be noted, the teenage male in the photographs is a victim of identity theft and volunteered to release his images in the hopes it will help identify any other potential victims. Gale used the online account names of John Gunther, Marley Nukka, Antioch Baby, and Tony Montana. Investigators are looking for other potential victims.
If you have any information, call the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) Tip Line at (541) 774-8333 and reference case number 22-1879.
SOCET enables local law enforcement agencies to collaborate with federal partners such as HSI, to effectively investigate and prosecute out-of-state suspects when they victimize children in our community. SOCET is a joint inter-agency task force started in June of 2020 to combat child exploitation and human trafficking. The task force consists of investigators from JCSO, Grants Pass Police Department, and HSI; as well as prosecutors from our local, state and federal law enforcement partners in Jackson and Josephine County.
A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Source: JCSO
