Sep 18, 2013--Rhea County Detective Rocky Potter answers questions Wednesday at the Rhea County Courthouse during a preliminary hearing in the death of 5-year-old Landon Robbins.A 44-year-old Rhea County, Tenn., man is due in court today for a preliminary hearing on charges related to making child pornography.
Bradley Rose is charged with one count of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a class B felony, in a case triggered by Dayton Police Department investigator Steve Rievley and a detective in California, Rhea County Sheriff's Office investigator Rocky Potter said. Rievley and the detective are members of a network that tracks exploited children.
Rose is scheduled to appear today in Rhea County General Sessions Court.
Potter said Monday that any evidence from the continuing investigation could be presented to the Rhea County grand jury in December.
"We are still looking into the possibility of some prior victims," Potter said.
Rievley and the California detective linked Rose to a sex offender registered in California who had violated his probation because he was found in possession of child pornography. Among the evidence found by California authorities were phone numbers with Tennessee's 423 area code.
Potter and Rievley used the number and what they could learn from social media to match up some names with social media references. With some help from Rhea County Director of Schools Jerry Levengood, investigators were able to narrow the victim search to a few students under the age of 12. Investigators showed a phone number to the mother of one of the possible victims and she recognized it as belonging to Bradley Rose, who had befriended some children in a local community, Potter said.
When Rose was taken into custody, he reportedly remarked to officers that he "knew what we needed" as he handed over his cellphone, Potter said.
Meanwhile, Rose remains in the Rhea County Jail on a $100,000 bond, according to jail officials.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.