MADISONVILLE, Tenn. — An East Tennessee man is accused of possessing videos of his 12-year-old stepdaughter that showed the girl stepping out of the shower, authorities said.
Todd Michael Beran, 54, of Madisonville, was arrested on April 4, according to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office online booking records. He was charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, online records show.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office detective Samantha Long said she received a referral from the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services about suggested child sexual abuse between an adult and a minor, The Advocate & Democrat newspaper of Madisonville reported.
Long stated that she spoke with the girl, who said she had seen a video depicting her getting out of the shower on her stepfather’s cellphone, according to the newspaper.
The girl’s brother confirmed to the detective that he had also seen the video on the man’s cellphone.
Beran spoke with the detective and a DCS worker and denied the allegations, The Advocate & Democrat reported. He agreed to allow authorities to examine his cellphone.
Detective Doug Mills downloaded the cellphone’s contents and allegedly found two videos that seemed to confirm what the juveniles had told Long. The videos allegedly showed the girl exiting a shower, drying off and putting on her clothes, according to the newspaper.
It was unclear when the alleged videos were filmed.
Beran denied knowing how the videos got onto his cellphone, which he stated he had owned for two years. He was arrested and booked into the Monroe County Jail, online records show.
Bail was set at $250,000, and Beran is expected to make his first court appearance on April 16, online records show.
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