A former paramedic and substitute elementary school teacher in Bartow County was sentenced to prison Friday after he was found to have had hundreds of files containing child pornography on his computer, officials said.
Bryan David Somers, 43, was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison, followed by 25 years of supervised release, after he was found guilty in March of receiving and distributing child pornography, according to court documents.
“By receiving and distributing these images, Somers participated in the continuing abuse and exploitation of children,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Ryan Buchanan said. “The pictures and videos document the abuse of real children at the hands of depraved individuals. Distributing those images over the internet means the most horrifying thing in a child’s life is shared around the world, in perpetuity.”
An investigation into Somers began in 2019 after a Polk County police officer and member of the Georgia Crimes Against Children task force discovered a computer in Cartersville that was dispersing child porn over the internet, Buchanan said. The Bartow sheriff’s office and Homeland Security were alerted, and Buchanan said authorities eventually found out the computer belonged to Somers.
When computers found in Somers’ townhouse were searched, authorities found that he had downloaded hundreds of files containing child porn. Somers also tried to remove the files from his devices to prevent discovery, Buchanan said.
At the time, Somers was working in Bartow for MetroAtlanta Ambulance Service and as a substitute teacher at Emerson Elementary School, the Bartow sheriff’s office said in July 2019 when Somers was arrested.
In addition to the child pornography charges, Somers faces four counts of child molestation and two counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, according to the sheriff’s office. That case remains pending and no court dates have been set, the Bartow District Attorney’s Office confirmed Friday.
“Stopping predators like Somers, who collect and distribute these horrific images of children being abused, is one of our highest priorities,” said Special Agent Katrina Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations operations in Georgia and Alabama. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure everyone involved in this unconscionable crime faces justice and our children (are) protected.”
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