Executive director of faith-based nonprofit charged with child porn possession
The executive director of a faith-based addiction recovery nonprofit in St. Paul has been charged with 12 counts of child sexual abuse material possession.
Drew Brooks, 67, of Roseville, the executive director of Faith Partners, was investigated after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a "CyberTip report" from Microsoft on Christmas Day, 2022, saying an individual had accessed software to "disseminate child sexual abuse material on Christmas Eve."
According to the criminal complaint, NCMEC received "several more" CyberTips concerning the same home between Oct. 5, 2023 and Apr. 28, 2024, which was the home where Brooks lives with his wife.
A search warrant was obtained and then executed on Oct. 29, 2024, with Brooks and his wife detained at their home.
Computers and flash drivers were seized, with officers allegedly finding documents in the name of Faith Partners in his home office, along with a black laptop bag. Inside the laptop bag was an envelope allegedly addressed to Brooks, which contained printed images of child sexual abuse, the complaint says.
Brooks' wife told police she knew her husband looked at pornography, but wasn't aware he was looking at child pornography. She also said there were flash drives and computers in the home that Brooks used for work.
When interviewed, police placed the folder that contained child porn on the table, with Brooks allegedly acknowledging that he recognized the folder and was aware of its contents, but claims he forgot the folder even existed.
Per the complaint, he then proceeded to claim he had been sexually abused by his grandfather when he was 7-9 years old, began abusing substances when he was 11-13, was in recovery at the age of 22, and went to sex addicts anonymous when he was 24, and "unearthed" these recollections in therapy about six years earlier.
"Brooks said he was not initially interested in child sexual abuse material, but he found it was only a click away," the complaint says. "Brooks admitted he had looked at child sexual abuse material that week. Brooks said there would be child sexual abuse material on a laptop downstairs in his home."
He continued to say that he is "not necessarily' sexually attracted to children" but is "attracted to the novelty," describing an "attraction/repulsion dynamic along with novelty makes him seek the material out."
Brooks has worked for Faith Partners since 1999 as a project manager, and has been its executive director since 2011. He has played a major role in prevention, treatment, public health, and faith-based work for more than three decades.
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