Eric Lee Bagley Sentenced to Twenty Years for Distribution of Child Pornography and Distribution of a Crush Video

Chattanooga, Tenn. – Today, Eric Lee Bagley, 44, of Lookout Mountain, Georgia, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Honorable Charles Atchley, United States District Court Judge, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  Following his incarceration, Bagley will be on a term of supervised release for 10 years, and he will be required to register with state sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions.  In addition, he was ordered not to own, possess, or have access to animals.

As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Bagley agreed to plead guilty to an indictment charging him with one count of distribution of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2); and one count of distribution of a crush video in violation of 18 U.S.C. 48(a)(3). 

In the plea agreement filed with court, Bagley admitted that, in February 2023, he contacted an undercover officer on an online platform known as Kik, believing the officer was as an adult female who had access to her 8-year-old niece.  The defendant wrote that he was interested in sexual contact with both the notional adult female, the notional 8-year-old, and wanted to include a dog in the sexual contact with them both. 

While communicating with the person he believed was an adult female, and, to entice her and the notional 8-year-old, the defendant distributed several videos depicting minors and dogs engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  A sexually explicit image of a non-human animal is defined as a “crush video.”  On July 27, 2023, Bagley traveled to Athens, Tennessee intending to engage in sexual contact with the notional adult female and the notional 8-year-old, and he was arrested.     

U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee and Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made the announcement. 

This case arose out of a crimes against children undercover operation which was part of the FBI’s annual Operation Cross Country. Law enforcement agencies participating in the joint investigation included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Shelbyville Police Department, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Red Bank Police Department, Chattanooga Police Department, and the McMinn County Sheriff’s Office. 

Assistant United States Attorney James T. Brooks and Special Assistant United States Attorney Charles D. Minor represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006, by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about PSC, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab "resources.”

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