Porn charges for brother of Las Vegas shooter
Bruce Paddock, 59, arrested in Hollywood
A brother of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was arrested Wednesday in Los Angeles on child pornography charges, authorities said.
Bruce Paddock, 59, was taken into custody at an assisted living facility in North Hollywood. A criminal complaint filed by prosecutors in Los Angeles County lists 19 counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography.
The complaint alleges that between January and August 2014, Paddock possessed and exchanged more than 600 photos depicting children under age 18 engaging in or simulating sexual activity. At least 10 of the images depicted children under age 12, the complaint alleges.
Paddock was a transient when the investigation took place and could not be found, police said. He was recently traced to the North Hollywood facility, and photos from the scene show him in a wheelchair during his arrest.
He was ordered held on $60,000 bail.
“#LAPD: Detectives have arrested Bruce Paddock for possession of Child Porn. In case there are more victims, call Juvenile Div,” police tweeted.
The child pornography investigation was launched after evidence was discovered at a business in the city’s Sun Valley neighborhood, police said.
“Paddock had been squatting inside the business, and after his eviction the evidence was discov- ered,” police said in a statement. Paddock has previous convictions for vandalism, criminal threats and theft, NBC reported, citing court records.
Stephen Paddock’s shooting rampage on the Las Vegas Strip on Oct. 1 killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more. After the attack, Bruce Paddock told NBC News he was questioned twice about the shooting by the FBI. “They were just asking about our childhood, what schools we went to, who his friends were,” Paddock said. He speculated that financial difficulties may have driven his brother over the edge. Police have found no such connection, however.
“I don’t know how he could stoop to this low point, hurting someone else,” Bruce Paddock told NBC. “He killed a bunch of people and then killed himself so he didn’t have to face whatever it was.”
Stephen Paddock, 64, killed himself after his rampage. Their father, Benjamin Paddock, was on the FBI’s 10 most-wanted fugitives list in 1968 after escaping from a Texas prison.
Benjamin Paddock had been sentenced to 20 years in the Federal Correction Facility in La Tuna, Texas, after robbing Valley National Bank in Phoenix in 1960. After his escape, he fled to Oregon and ran a bingo parlor before he was recaptured in 1978. He died in 1998.