A Polk County child predator will spend the rest of his life behind bars, while his brother will serve five years in a Florida State prison, followed by 12 years probation, deputies said.
Brian Craft, 30, who will be sentenced on July 18, was convicted on several counts including sexual battery on a child younger than 12 years, which carries a mandatory life sentence; lewd molestation which carries a 25-year mandatory sentence; 10 counts of possession of child pornography; promoting sexual performance of a child and use of a child in sexual performance.
After learning that child pornography was being downloaded and distributed to two separate computers, deputies served a search warrant on a home in the 5200 block of Dismuke Drive. There they found Brian Craft and his brother, Thomas Craft, and charged them with multiple counts of possession of child pornography.
Deputies also discovered through forensic reviews of the computers that, in 2011, two young girls had been in Brian Craft’s care and he had sexually battered them on different occasions.
Thomas Craft pled guilty to his charges and will serve five years in a Florida State prison, then 12 years on probation.
Brian Craft will spend the rest of his life behind bars. He will be sentenced on July 18.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, issued the following statement:
“The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Computer Crimes detectives are simply the best of the best,” said Sheriff Grady Judd. “As a result of their hard work and commitment to protecting Polk County’s most vulnerable victims, and because of the exceptional partnership they have built with the State Attorney’s Office of the 10th Judicial Circuit, a true child predator will never walk free again.”
