Ex-city council candidate charged with 12 counts of child exploitative material
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — A former candidate for the Idaho Falls City Council is facing a dozen felony charges after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led to a cache of disturbing content on his phone.
Christopher Brunt has been charged with 12 counts of felony possession of sexually exploitative material.
Case Background
According to court documents, the case began in early March after the Attorney General's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received a a "CyberTip" from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The tip originated from Google flagging a user for uploaded several images containing child pornography to its servers.
The tip contained eight images of suspected Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) uploaded between 2022 and 2025. The account was tied to a verified email address and a registered phone number belonging to Brunt.
Several of the photos depicted an adult man naked from the waist down, performing sex acts on a child's doll while in the play area of a business.
"While this image isn't criminal per se, it is disturbing that it is occurring in the play area of a business where children are probably the clientele," states the probable cause affidavit.
On March 18, detectives from the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office joined the investigation and used Google reverse image searches to match the playground equipment to a local therapy center in Idaho Falls. While the center's owners confirmed they once owned the equipment, they told police they'd gotten rid of it years prior following a flood.
Determining the photos were taken after business hours, detectives contacted the center’s contracted cleaning company. The owner of the cleaning service confirmed that Brunt had been employed as a supervisor from August 2020 through September 2023.
Forensic Investigation Uncovers Disturbing Images
On April 8, members of the Eastern Idaho ICAC Task Force and local sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at Brunt’s home along Canal Ave, taking him into custody. fter being read his Miranda rights, Brunt refused to speak to police without an attorney present.
During the search, court documents indicate Brunt asked detectives what could happen. A detective explained that he would either be released pending a full review of his phone or taken to jail. According to court documents, Brunt responded by telling the investigator he 'didn't think he'd be going home.'
Forensic examiners recovered over 100 images of child pornography on Brunts phone. The content contained explicit photos, some altered and others AI generated, depicting infants and juveniles engacing in sexual activities with adult men.
One particuarly distrubing image depicted Brunt himself in the nude wearing a santa hat, edited to include 11 juvenile boys under the age of 10 surrounding his genitles.
Brunt's Preliminary Hearing has been set for April 22 at 1:00 PM before Judge Michael Kirkham in Idaho Falls.
