Ex-Hancock deputy who threatened minor child porn victim set to enter guilty plea
Former Hancock County sheriff’s deputy Derrick Patrick Flanagan is set to plead guilty Friday to a federal bill of information charging him with producing child pornography.
The charge accuses Flanagan of enticing and coercing a minor 12 or under to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce child porn using materials that had been shipped, mailed or transported across state lines and by computer, according to the charging document.
The alleged crimes occurred in Harrison County on or around Feb. 22, 2021.
Flanagan is facing a potential prison sentence of anywhere from 15 years to 30 years in prison, up to a $250,000 fine and up to life of post-release supervision for the federal offense.
The ex-deputy was previously charged only federally with possession of child pornography, but the charge was later upgraded to producing child porn as outlined in the charging document.
In addition to the federal offense, Flanagan is also facing state charges of child exploitation and assessing child pornography.
Flanagan is being represented by attorney Rufus Alldredge. The attorney informed the court of his client’s intent to plead guilty to the federal offense.
The government has filed a forfeiture claim to take possession of a laptop and various cellphones that belonged to the ex-deputy.
A tip from led to child porn discovery
Hancock County Sheriff’s Investigator Matthew Sekinger first got a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in November 2020 about the presence of child pornography in a Dropbox account under the fictitious name of John Adams that included the email address hornybigguy020@gmail.com. Dropbox is a file-sharing service.
Sekinger got a warrant and traced the use of that Dropbox account to an internet address at a Waveland home, where Flanagan had been living at the time with a roommate.
Ex-deputy threatened child exploitation victims if they refused sexual requests, agent says
When Sekinger realized Flanagan lived there, he called the then deputy, but Flanagan brushed off the allegation, instead saying a former roommate had used that Internet connection. Sekinger closed his investigation as a result, according to records and testimony at a court hearing.
Flanagan remained on the job policing Diamondhead as a Hancock County deputy until Sekinger got another Cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited children about alleged child pornography found in a Dropbox account that was traced to Flanagan.
The probe
The new Dropbox account in the second tip was in Flanagan’s name. He used the email address navygunner2003@gmail.com,
According to testimony from Sekinger, Flanagan had served in both the Army and Navy in previous years. In addition, Flanagan was a native of Ireland.
A search warrant was obtained to search the second Dropbox account, resulting in the discovery of child pornography and ultimately led to Flanagan’s arrest.
David Allen, director of the cybercrime division at the Attorney General’s Office, headed up the investigation that followed.
As part of that probe, according to court testimony and records, Allen obtained a warrant to search Flanagan’s home, where authorities seized his laptop and multiple smartphones.
Hancock sheriff’s deputy fired, arrested after tip leads to child sex crime charges
Authorities seized two more cellphones from Flanagan when he was called into the Sheriff’s Department and ultimately arrested and fired from his position.
On the laptop, authorities found at least 10 videos and one image, all of which showed children engaged in sexually explicit acts, FBI special agent Hillary Ladner testified.
In some images, a girl under 12 performs oral sex on a boy under 18. Other videos and pictures showed two boys under 18 masturbating.
Flanagan had also used the social media site, Snapchat, to communicate and receive alleged child pornography from various minors.
In addition, Flanagan also sent naked pictures of himself showing his penis to minor victims, the agent said.
In many instances, federal authorities said, Flanagan threatened to punish the minor victims if they didn’t perform the sexual acts he wanted to see in pictures and videos.
Federal authorities identified various minor victims and said the ex-deputy sometimes paid for the child porn pictures and videos he received.
