An airman assigned to Malmstrom Air Force Base appeared in federal court in Great Falls on Oct. 10 and admitted to allegations that he obtained and sold images of child sexual abuse material using social media, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Brandon Earl Bankston, 23, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to sell child pornography.

He faces a mandatory minimum of five years to 20 years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and not less than five years to a lifetime of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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Bankston’s sentencing was set for March 14, 2024 and he was detained pending further proceedings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Federal prosecutors alleged that during the summer of 2021, the Great Falls Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was alerted that a suspect in Montana had uploaded videos containing known child sexual abuse material to an account on “X,” formerly known as Twitter, according to court documents.

The task force also learned that a Snapchat user with a Montana address had posted an image of child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The investigation determined that the internet provider addresses belonged to Bankston, an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force assigned to the 341st Missile Security Forces Squadron at Malmstrom, according to court documents.

Bankston admitted to Air Force investigators to possessing and distributing the child sexual abuse material in exchange for payment from users across various internet platforms, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The airman told investigators that he obtained images and videos of the material through a messaging platform and stored the material on a cloud-based site in New Zealand. Bankston told investigators that he sold the child sexual abuse material to about 25 individuals, according to court documents.

Investigators searched Bankston’s electronic devices, social media platforms, bank accounts and cloud-based storage applications, determining that he possessed about 5,000 images of child sexual abuse material and about 3,000 images and videos of the material saved in storage accounts, according the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Investigators determined Bankston received about $6,750 for child sexual abuse material sales from 42 separate transactions.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey K. Starnes is prosecuting the case. The Great Falls Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations conducted the investigation.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, the initiative marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.