Man Faces 6 Felonies for Child Porn Uploads, Illegal Files on Phone

Dec 10

A Brooklyn Center man is facing six felony counts after investigators say they linked a series of child exploitation uploads to his accounts and found more than 1,000 illegal files on his phone.

A summons was filed for 21-year-old John Dean McClain following a months-long review of CyberTips and device data, according to a Hennepin County complaint filed last week.

The case began in 2024 when the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension received four CyberTips from Kik that documented repeated uploads of suspected child sexual abuse material. Kik reported 14 videos on October 15, 11 more on October 28, then another batch of 34 videos and two images on March 11 followed by 23 videos on May 10. Each upload came from accounts tied to the same email address. Investigators confirmed one of the files matched a previously identified child victim.

> Sign up for the MN CRIME newsletter

Subscriber records for the IP addresses used by those accounts returned to an apartment on Summit Circle in Brooklyn Center. The complaint says McClain lived there, with his driver’s license issued in October 2023 listing the same address and rental documents naming him on the lease. A phone tracking warrant also placed him at the residence. Surveillance footage from August 25 showed him leaving the building shortly before investigators received another CyberTip from Kik that reported additional uploads from the same IP address.

Investigators obtained records for four Kik accounts tied to the tips. One included a selfie image that matched McClain’s appearance. Those accounts were actively sending and receiving child exploitation material at the time.

On August 27, officers served a search warrant at the apartment and found McClain inside. They seized two laptops, an SD card, an Apple iPhone and a Samsung phone. According to the complaint, McClain told investigators he knew why officers were there and admitted he possessed illegal material. He said he developed a pornography addiction, first encountered the content on Discord and later traded files on Discord, Telegram and Kik. He told investigators he had been downloading and sharing the material for about a year and also had bestiality content saved on his device.

A forensic review of the Samsung phone recovered 1,064 files categorized as child sexual abuse material. Eleven files were confirmed as known victims. Many were stored in a subfolder within the device’s camera directory.

Messages recovered from Telegram showed the phone shared material described in count I with another user on October 18 last year. Additional messages recovered from Kik showed the phone sending illegal files on August 10, 11, 12 and 13 this year, including the file tied to count II.

Investigators also located multiple files matching the four possession counts. Each file was documented by name, stored location and hash value and met the legal criteria outlined in the complaint.

McClain is charged with disseminating a pornographic work involving a minor, disseminating child sexual abuse material and four counts of possessing child sexual abuse material. He was not booked and remains out of custody under a summons.

Each dissemination charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a fine. Each possession charge carries a maximum penalty of five years and a fine. Conditional release terms also apply if McClain is convicted.

Authorities have not announced any other suspects connected to the case.

> See more of our latest coverage

Follow on X or YouTube for more

> Help make MN safer with real-time alerts, LIVE video, 24/7 Safety Agents & much more: Download Citizen now