Miami man used bitcoin to pay for child sexual abuse material, police say

A Miami man made bitcoin withdrawals to pay for videos of child sexual abuse material, according to police.

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The investigation into Brandon Barrera, 22, began in April 2025 when a cybertip reported six images of CSAM being uploaded to Discord, a popular social-media platform often associated with online gaming, according to Barrera’s arrest affidavit.

Another cybertip, reported by Cash App, provided a phone number linked to an account that made a $50 BTC deposit, which went to a crypto wallet address associated with child sexual abuse material.

A subpoena to T-Mobile for the phone number tied it to Barrera.

A search warrant of the Discord account revealed images and videos of the child sexual abuse material, “including the images/videos that were reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCEM) from Discord,” Barrera’s arrest affidavit reads.

Detectives described 14 images and videos of children being sexually abused in Barrera’s arrest affidavit. The children ranged in age from 2 to 12 years old, detectives say

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On Thursday, detectives searched Barrera’s home and detained him. Barrera admitted to being the owner of the Discord account, which he used to upload child abuse videos, according to his arrest affidavit.

He said he searched online for videos and images of child sexual abuse material and found a link to access Cash App to make payments for CSAM, according to the arrest affidavit.

Barrera said he made multiple $50 payments to a Cash App wallet address to purchase the content. After making payments, he received links to the abuse material via Telegram and WhatsApp, according to his arrest affidavit. He admitted to masturbating to the material.

He is charged with 14 counts of possessing images of sexual performance by a child. Jail records show he is locked up at the Metro West Detention Center and has a bond status of “to be set.” His attorney information was not immediately available on the Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Court website.

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