A 32-year-old Cleveland Police officer from Parma was indicted on child pornography charges and has since been relieved from duty, according to the Department of Justice and Cleveland Police.
Brandon Crites was arrested on Friday after an arrest warrant was issued for one count each of receipt and distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to a statement from Cleveland Police. He has since been indicted on those charges, according to the DOJ.
Between 2022 and 2023, Crites is alleged to have received and distributed numerous images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possessed a laptop and hard drives that contained child pornography in September 2023, according to the indictment. At the time of the offenses, he was employed as a patrolman with Cleveland Police.
Cleveland Police were made aware of the investigation being conducted by the FBI in September of 2023 and immediately placed Crites on restricted duty assignments, working with no public contact, Cleveland Police officials said in the statement.
On Friday, upon receiving notification that an arrest warrant was issued, Crites was arrested by Cleveland Police's Internal Affairs Unit and turned over to the custody of the FBI, police said. Following his arrest, Crites was relieved from duty and will remain suspended without pay pending adjudication of the criminal charges.
Crites was hired by Cleveland Police in January 2019 and was most recently assigned to the Second District, Basic Patrol Section, police said.
The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer King, according to the DOJ news release.
