Duchesne County man charged with possession of CSAM and child sex dolls

DUCHESNE COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — A Roosevelt man has been charged with fifteen felonies and one misdemeanor after allegedly possessing child sex abuse material (CSAM) and several child sex dolls.

Brandon Francis Dowell, 27, was charged this week after an investigation found that he had uploaded multiple photos of a minor online. It was also found that he allegedly had several child sex dolls in his possession.

Initially, Dowell was arrested on suspicion of 27 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor (second-degree felonies) and five counts of distributing or purchasing a child sex doll (third-degree felonies).

He was formally charged on October 27, for ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, five counts of distributing or purchasing a child sex doll, and one count of possession of a child sex doll (a Class A misdemeanor).

Dowell is being held in the Duchesne County Jail without bail.

Case History

In February 2024, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received tips from Google that a user had uploaded content that involved minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct to their account and was storing it in their Google Photos.

Notably, Google and the NCMEC reported that they had not directly reviewed the contents of the files, but that the “hash files” or unique codes of the files matched a previously identified file depicting CSAM.

According to Google’s report to the NCMEC, a user known as “27 Yom Brandon Dowell” had uploaded 27 different CSAM files. The account information about this user was linked to Brandon Dowell and there were account emails associated with Dowell.

Additionally, NCMEC determined that the phone number and IP address associated with the user account were registered in Utah. NCMEC forwarded this information to the Utah Attorney General’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

The incident was assigned to the Roosevelt Police Department. By request, the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force took over the investigation in June of 2025.

An officer with the Sheriff’s Office ICAC Task Force reviewed all 27 files and found that they were graphic in nature. He reported that one of the videos depicted content of a female child that is approximately 8 years old.

Law enforcement also confirmed that the user’s IP address was within the city limits of Roosevelt, Utah. They also filed warrants for Strata and Google for further evidence.

Between July 15 and July 28, 2025, an officer conducted surveillance on Brandon Dowell’s residence and confirmed that he resides there.

On October 23, 2025, the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office and Roosevelt Police Department conducted a search warrant on Dowell’s residence and took him into custody. They reportedly found several child sex dolls inside the residence.

Additionally, officers searched Dowell’s phone where they found over 8000 CSAM items. After an interview, Dowell reportedly admitted to downloading and possessing CSAM.