FBI forgot about a 'slam-dunk case' against suspected pedophile over Jan. 6 — then a child is found with suspect years later

Nearly three years after the FBI appeared to stop investigating an alleged child predator because of the riots at the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, that alleged predator was arrested in a separate investigation involving suspected child predation more than 3,500 miles away.

In December 2020, an undercover FBI agent posed as a father with a 9-year-old son.

That agent was invited to join a private group chat on a social media app to "discuss the sexual abuse of minor boys" and to share images of sexual abuse of young children, according to court documents. A member of that group, username "gayboy69freak," sent a private message to the undercover agent expressing his depraved sexual interests and told the agent he wanted to travel to Washington, D.C., to sexually abuse his son.

Through a series of administrative subpoenas, the FBI discovered that "gayboy69freak" was 28-year-old Brogan Welsh, a resident of Richmond.

The criminal complaint against Welsh details the sickening messages he sent the undercover agent, expressing his sexual interest in what he believed was a 9-year-old child. The complaint also reveals that Welsh allegedly transmitted multiple videos of child sexual abuse.

By all accounts, the FBI constructed a "slam-dunk case" against Welsh, the Daily Wire reported — but Welsh was never arrested. Court documents explain why.

"On January 6, 2021, FBI, Washington Field Office, this investigation was halted due to events that occurred at the United States Capitol Building that day," the court documents say.

Fast forward to August 2023.

The FBI's Anchorage field office conducted a search warrant in an unrelated case on an iPhone that did not belong to Welsh. Agents discovered on that phone a chat between two people where the individuals discussed their "want for sexually explicit interactions with a minor."

In September 2023, the FBI traced the IP address of the chat user who did not own the phone to — you guessed it — Brogan Welsh.

Last month, the FBI arrested Welsh at his residence in Anchorage. Upon detainment, Welsh admitted "that he was attracted to teenagers," according to the criminal complaint, and agents discovered in his house "sex toys that are very small in size and apparently consistent with the body size of an approximate 10-year-old boy."

The criminal complaint then exposed an even more distributing find: "The investigation has revealed that a 10-year-old boy was, in fact, residing at the residence."

Welsh is charged with one count of distribution of child pornography, stemming from the videos he sent allegedly sent in December 2020. He has not yet been charged with other crimes, and the relationship between Welsh and the 10-year-old boy is not clear. The Justice of Department made no mention of the child in its news release about Welsh's arrest.

In a statement provided to the Daily Wire, the FBI said:

In the immediate aftermath of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, WFO resources were surged to support the FBI’s response and investigation. However, WFO continued to diligently pursue its ongoing investigations. While we can’t speak to the specific circumstances of this case, the FBI takes all crimes against children investigations extremely seriously, and we must follow the facts where they lead and collect enough evidence to pursue prosecution.

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