A former member of the U.S. Air Force at the Malmstrom Air Force Base was sentenced March 13 to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for obtaining and selling child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Brandon Earl Bankston, 23, pleaded guilty in October 2023 in federal court to possession with intent to sell child pornography.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided and ordered $60,000 in restitution to victims.

To date, the investigation has identified more than 20 victims of Bankston’s scheme, but only 20 victims requested restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Malmstrom airman admits to obtaining, selling child sexual abuse material [2023]

Prosecutors alleged that Bankston obtained child sexual abuse material from various places on the internet and stored the material in an off-shore, cloud-based storage account.

Bankston used mobile messaging applications and fake online profiles to advertise the sale of the material to strangers online. When he found someone interested in the material he possessed, Bankston received payment through electronic wire transfers and would then link the buyer, allowing access to the material stored in his offshore storage account, according to court documents.

Bankston possessed and traded thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse, some of which depicted the abuse of toddlers, according to court documents.

Bankston received about $6,750 for the sale of CSAM from 42 separate transactions, according to court documents.

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In 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” and further 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 address belonged to Bankston, who was an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force assigned to the 341th Missile Security Forces Squadron at Malmstrom at the time.

He’s since been discharged and is no longer affiliated with the U.S. Air Force.

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Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey K. Starnes prosecuted 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 U.S. 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 coordinates 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.