ATTICA, Ind. — A former EMT in Attica was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting a 16-year-old and possessing child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
According to court documents, 30-year-old Brett Cearing was living with his girlfriend and her 14-year-old daughter in Attica. From May of 2020 to August of 2020, Cearing sexually exploited a 16-year-old girl who visited his girlfriend’s daughter by recording her using a hidden camera disguised as a cellphone charger in a bathroom. He recorded her as she showered, used the restroom and undressed, authorities said. He also tried to record his girlfriend’s daughter as she showered.
Cearing edited the videos and images to focus on the girl’s genitalia and admitted in court that he recorded her because of his sexual interest in her, authorities said. He hid the images and videos in a “Hyper Tornado Secret Calculator” application that featured a way to hide images and videos from view unless the user entered a certain key sequence on the calculator, explained the DOJ.
The Fountain County Prosecutor’s Office initially charged Cearing in August of 2020 with child exploitation and voyeurism. He posted bond and was released on pretrial supervision.
In January of 2021, Cearing was arrested and charged with public indecency after he allegedly exposed himself and masturbated to a young woman in a Love’s parking lot in Knightstown, per the DOJ.
Cearing was then charged with sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography by federal complaint in the Southern District of Indiana and ordered detained by a federal magistrate judge.
In addition to 15 years in federal prison, Cearing must also be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for seven years following his release, pay $10,000 in restitution to the victim and register as a sex offender wherever he lives, works or goes to school.
The DOJ noted that in fiscal year 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, the Southern District of Indiana was second out of the 94 federal districts in the country for the number of child sexual exploitation cases prosecuted.
