Air Force member at Malmstrom pleads guilty to child porn charge

A U.S. Air Force member at Malmstrom Air Force Base has admitted to allegations he obtained and sold images of child sexual abuse material using social media, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Brandon Earl Bankston, 23, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession with intent to sell child pornography. He faces a mandatory minimum of five years to 20 years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and not less than five years to a lifetime of supervised release, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The Missouri River Courthouse, a 48,000 square foot federal building that opened in 2009, sits on the west bank of the Missouri in Great Falls. 

TOM BAUER/Missoulian

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris set sentencing for March 14. Bankston was detained pending further proceedings, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

He was a member of the U.S. Air Force assigned to the 341st Missile Security Forces Squadron at Malmstrom in Great Falls, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The Great Falls Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was alerted during the summer of 2021 that someone in Montana had uploaded videos containing known child

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