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A former youth minister at a Raleigh church and student at a Wake Forest seminary pleaded guilty Monday to possessing child sexual abuse material.
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Aaron Luke Bradley, 31, pleaded guilty to soliciting third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor as part of a plea deal, court records show. In exchange for his guilty plea, his remaining three charges of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor were dismissed.
Bradley was arrested last year after Wake Forest police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, The News & Observer previously reported. The center’s tip followed a report from the messaging platform Kik of a user sharing a video showing a young girl performing a sex act on an adult, court documents indicate.
Prior to his arrest, Bradley was working as a youth minister at Living Hope Raleigh, the English-speaking congregation of First Baptist Korean Church of Raleigh, The N&O previously reported. Bradley had joined the church in 2022, but was no longer employed there shortly after he was charged, according to CBS17.
The video shared on Kik was tied to a Wake Forest IP address, which authorities then traced to student housing at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, according to search warrants in the case. Bradley was a student at the seminary pursuing his master’s degree, the warrants state.
Investigators found evidence Bradley may have been posing as a teenager, noting he’d created a Gmail account listing his age as 16 years old despite being 25 at the time of creating it, according to search warrants. Police also discovered a TikTok that Bradley had reposted discussing being attracted to people younger than him, the warrants state.
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And though Kik had suspended Bradley’s account for the inappropriate content he’d shared, he made another account two days later, according to email records reviewed by investigators. He appeared to be trying to hide his IP address by using VPNs, search warrants show.
Edd Roberts, Bradley’s defense attorney, said in court Monday that 11 images of child sexual abuse material were found on Bradley’s phone. Assistant District Attorney Allie Gray told the court the victims were thought to be between 9 and 12 years old.
Bradley returned to his home state of Texas after his arrest and began seeing a therapist, Roberts said Monday.
As part of his plea, Bradley was sentenced to 10 days in jail. Wake County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Bedford found Monday that Bradley had already served that time, having been booked into the jail June 5, and ordered his release after the hearing.
Bradley must register as a sex offender and remain on the registry for 30 years, according to court documents. He may petition the court to be removed from the registry after 10 years.
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