Brett Janes contacted roughly a dozen underage boys and asked them for nude photos, federal investigators said. He also shared his government building access badges via a chat in Discord, according to authorities. (mugshot via the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office; access badges from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia)
A former FBI contactor repeatedly begged and threatened suicide unless underage boys sent him sexually explicit photos, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia.
Brett Janes, 26, of Arlington, Virginia, allegedly contacted about a dozen boys over social media apps Discord and Snapchat. Janes is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of children and production of child sexual abuse material, one count of attempted coercion and enticement, and one count of receipt of child pornography. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The investigation began in February 2023 when the parent of a 13-year-old boy in New Jersey contacted law enforcement after learning the boy was talking to an adult male over Discord.
The victim was chatting with a man who was using the screenname “revision#3409,” accorrding to authorities. The man told the boy his name was Brett Janes and was living in Virginia working for an intelligence agency, the complaint said. The boy said he met Janes while playing the game Valorant, a multiplayer tactical shooter game. The boy said Janes asked to play “strip Valorant” which led to the two getting naked, the criminal complaint reviewed by Law&Crime said.
Investigators believed Janes was “grooming” the boy to entice him to play strip video games. Janes also paid the boy $100, investigators said. Eventually, the boy blocked Janes on Snapchat, authorities said.
“… im happy it happened sooner rather than later and im just going to kill myself cause no one likes me,” the defendant wrote in a message, according to the complaint.
Janes requested nude photos from several boys on Discord and Snapchat, investigators claim. He also allegedly tried to get one of the boys to come to his home.
“He allegedly enticed a 12-year-old boy to create and send him child sexual abuse material (CSAM) over Discord through flattery and repeated begging,” the press release said.
Detectives were able to identify Janes through his Virginia driver’s license and his computer IP address, according to authorities. They were also able to uncover a photo he sent in a chat of his access badges to government buildings. Janes had “recently taken a contract position within a headquarters unit in the FBI,” investigators said.
Janes, who was indicted Wednesday, has been in the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Arlington since May.
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Brett Janes indicted for sexually exploiting children: Feds