ST. LOUIS – A former Phelps County Sheriff’s deputy pleaded guilty in court on Thursday to engaging in sexual activities with two victims under the age of 17 and to the production of child pornography.

According to the U.S Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Missouri, Justin Bradley Durham, 43, of Rolla admitted to the production of child pornography and engaging in the sex acts with the victims while employed at the sheriff’s department.

Durham additionally admitted to destroying evidence to impede the FBI’s investigation.


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Reportedly, Durham said as part of his plea deal he requested and received a sexually explicit video from a 16-year-old in 2013 and provided $200 to the victim after she engaged in sex acts with him.

Durham additionally admitted to engaging in sexual activities with the 17-year-old victim while in his patrol vehicle and exchanging sexually explicit images and video with the victim. Durham met the second victim after her friend contacted police, and he responded to the call.

The FBI interviewed Durham in 2023 after discovering his PayPal account was used to send money to another account connected with the sale of child pornography. Durham denied purchasing child pornography and said he had not accessed his Dropbox accounts for years.

Durham additionally refused the FBI agents search of his cell phone and two days later destroyed his phone and purchased a new one. Authorities said he deleted about 37 gigabytes of data in his Dropbox accounts before deactivating his account.

Prosecutors said among those deleted files were hundreds of sexually explicit images and videos including child sexual abuse material.

Durham was terminated by the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department on Aug. 9, 2023, and arrested. Once in jail, Durham told FBI agents he destroyed his laptop computer, threw away his cell phone, and conducted a “digital footprint scrub” of his online accounts.

Durham pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography, and three counts of destroying records in a federal investigation.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 5, 2025. Prosecutors said the production of child pornography carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, and the receipt of a child pornography charge has a five-year minimum.