Mobile Man Sentenced to Federal Prison on Child Pornography Charge
By: Dale Hines
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
August 12, 2026
MOBILE, Ala. An area man who served his country for more than 21 years in the United States Coast Guard is heading to federal prison after being found guilty of possession of child pornography.
Bradford Simmons pleaded guilty in April to possession of child pornography and has now been sentenced to five years.
An investigation in 2023 and 2024 by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office after receiving a tip led to serving a search warrant on Simmons.
The 51-year-old Mobile man admitted that he had 20 illicit images and videos on his cell phone and another 33 cached images on his laptop computer. He also admitted to using a computer program to try to erase evidence.
According to the defendant’s written plea agreement, Simmons stored child sexual abuse material on an external hard drive that investigators seized during a search of his home. That hard drive contained thousands of items that possibly contained child sexual abuse content.
The FBI investigation revealed that Simmons had a program on his laptop computer known as “File Shredder” that erases files.
As noted in the plea document, the File Shredder program advertises itself as shredding (destroying) unwanted files beyond recovery. With File Shredder you can remove files from your hard drive without fear they could be recovered.
Simmons admitted that he used the program to conceal or destroy the illicit images.
According to court documents, Simmons will get credit for the time has spent in jail after his arrest in June. In addition to the prison term, Chief U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock ordered Simmons to pay $17,500 in restitution and ordered him to be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 15 years following his release.
The judge recommended that the defendant be allowed to participate in a comprehensive substance abuse, mental health, and/or sex offender treatment program.
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