Beebe resident pleads guilty to 7 child sex counts
Man, 36, faces years in prison
A White County man scheduled to go on trial Monday on child pornography and attempted sex trafficking charges appeared in federal court Thursday for a pretrial conference but abruptly hit the brakes with an eleventh-hour plea to all seven counts against him.
Zachary Bradley, 36, of Beebe, was indicted Dec. 8, 2021, on five counts of production of child pornography and one count each of transfer of obscene material to a minor and attempted sex trafficking of a minor. Upon sentencing, he faces a possible 15- to 30-year prison sentence on the production counts, 10 years on the transfer of obscene material count and 10 years to life in prison on the attempted sex trafficking count, as well as a possible $250,000 fine on each count and a $5,000 per count special assessment pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.
Bradley had rejected earlier plea agreement offers from the government, according to his attorney, John Wesley Hall Jr. of Little Rock, because of stipulations that would have added several sentencing enhancements related to the offense conduct that could have potentially resulted in a substantial increase to his recommended sentencing guidelines. Those enhancements will instead be litigated when he returns to court for sentencing.
As she opened the hearing, U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker asked Hall if he and Bradley were prepared for the pretrial hearing.
“Yes,” Hall replied, “but we choose to plead guilty to the indictment straight up without a plea agreement … That will save us the problem of getting a jury together and not putting the court and the government out.”
“We briefly knew this was a possibility,” Baker said. “I’m prepared to go forward either way. Is the government prepared?”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant, who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Reese Lancaster, assented to move forward with the plea. In response to a question from Baker, Bryant said because Bradley’s decision to plead to the indictment was still up in the air as the hearing convened, the victims had not been notified “because we didn’t know if that was going to happen or not but they have received notice that this hearing is taking place.”
Bradley was arrested in October 2021 by Beebe police after a man reported that Bradley had raped his 14-year-old stepson. According to a statement of facts Bryant read into the record at Thursday’s hearing, the man told police Bradley had provided the boy with alcohol and drugs until the boy passed out, at which time he said Bradley sexually assaulted the boy.
“The next day,” Bryant said, “Bradley advised [the victim] that if he would continue to do this once a week, meaning engage in sex acts, Bradley would give him an allowance.”
On Oct. 8, 2021, Bryant said, Beebe police executed a search warrant on Bradley’s home and seized his cellphone. She said during a police interview that day, he admitted to performing oral sex on the boy and to offering him an allowance, “but he said he was only joking when he made that offer.”
After the FBI obtained a search warrant for Bradley’s phone 12 days later, Bryant said, investigators discovered five videos created between July 26, 2021, and Sept. 4, 2021, depicting another boy, this one about 13 years old. Three of the videos, she said, were recorded FaceTime conversations during which Bradley and the boy exposed themselves to each other. Another video, recorded at 1:44 a.m. on July 31, 2021, Bryant said, depicted the boy fully nude climbing a diving board at the swimming pool located at the Beebe City Park and diving into the pool. A fifth video depicted the same boy lying on Bradley’s bed with his shorts pulled down to expose his penis.
Bryant said when the boy was interviewed, he admitted to having FaceTime conversations with Bradley in which he exposed himself, “but he was unaware that Mr. Bradley was screen recording him.”
“Is there anything Ms. Bryant said about this conduct that’s not accurate?” Baker asked Bradley.
“No,” he replied softly, his voice barely audible.
“Are you satisfied with Mr. Hall’s advice and representation of you in this matter,” she asked, “specifically in regards to plea negotiations?”
“If you have any questions that you want to ask,” Baker said, “now is the time to ask either of the court or Mr. Hall because the next questions I’ll have for you is how you plead to each count.”
After Bradley indicated he had no questions, Baker then asked how he wished to plea, asking for each of the seven counts individually, each time Bradley answering softly, “guilty.”
“Are you making these pleas because you are, in fact, guilty?” Baker asked.
“Yes ma’am,” Bradley replied.
Baker said she will set a sentencing hearing by separate notice following completion of a pre-sentence report by the U.S. Probation Office, a process she said takes about 90 days to complete.