Child Porn Case Leads To 30 Charges For Mount Vernon Man

Editor's note: the story has been updated to reflect the correct area of the suspect's home.

MOUNT VERNON, VA — A Mount Vernon man is facing 30 felony charges in a child pornography case, according to Fairfax County police.

The investigation started when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children learned about potentially elicit images on a Dropbox account. Fairfax County police started investigating on Sept. 16 as Virginia State Police found the Dropbox account owner was in the county.

A search warrant on the Dropbox account uncovered tens of thousands of images and videos portraying child sexual abuse, authorities said. Detectives executed a search warrant on the suspect's home in Mount Vernon on Sept. 29. Detectives said they found more elicit images and videos on multiple electronic devices.

Further investigation found the suspect contacted teenage boys through Snapchat, Grindr and Instagram, and asked them to send illicit photos and videos, authorities said.

Brendan Lynch, 21, was arrested Monday and charged with four counts of solicitation of a minor, and 26 counts of possession of child pornography. He was taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center and held without bond.

Police said Lynch had been an aquatics instructor at multiple Fairfax County Park Authority RECenters since 2015 up to the time of the accusations. Based on investigations, detectives do not believe any identified victims are from Fairfax County or related to his place of employment.

The investigation was conducted by the Major Crimes Bureau’s Missing and Exploited Children Squad. Anyone with information about cases involving Lynch or other exploitation of children cases can contact the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 6. Anonymous tips can be submitted through www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org.