BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) — A 22-year-old University of Colorado Boulder student was arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of a child after allegedly sharing an explicit video of a fellow student.
According to the University of Colorado Boulder Police Department, Aria Michelle Brauchli is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child after she allegedly redistributed a video depicting child abuse material of a fellow CU classmate.
Video shared via Snapchat in CU class
An arrest affidavit obtained by FOX31 said the reported harassment happened in March 2022. On March 2, 2022, a student in a CU Boulder class received an AirDrop on her iPhone to accept a video. The student initially declined the AirDrop but told police she received the same notification nine more times before finally accepting.
When the student opened the video, she told police that it depicted child sexual abuse and immediately reported it to the university’s Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance.
According to CUPD, detectives were able to locate the person in the video and found that they were an undergraduate student at the university.
Video depicted CU student in high school
On March 31, 2022, detectives spoke with the victim in the video who immediately denied sending the video out.
According to CUPD, the victim told officers they were 13 or 14 years old in their hometown when the video was created. At that time it was shared through social media where someone tried to extort money from them in return for not sharing the video with universities to which they were applying.
The victim also told police there was an original investigation into the video in September 2017, but no charges were filed.
The victim told police they discovered the video was being recirculated on Snapchat near the end of February 2022. The victim contacted Snapchat to report the video and find the name of the original account that posted it. Snapchat was also able to take down the video.
CUPD also reached out to Snapchat about the account that posted the video and learned that the account had previous action taken against it and Snapchat’s parent company, Snap Inc., filed a report with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Brauchli knew victim from high school
According to the affidavit, CUPD detectives were able to connect the account to Brauchli who is also a student at CU Boulder.
On Aug. 11, 2022, officers spoke with Brauchli who allegedly told police she knew the victim because they attended the same high school and were in the same grade. She also told police that she was not friends with the victim and remembers when the video was first posted in high school.
Brauchli denied knowing that the video was being recirculated on Snapchat. Brauchli also allegedly told police that she dropped out of the class in which the video was originally AirDropped. However, police found records that showed Brauchli had completed that class with a passing grade.
CUPD obtained a search warrant and discovered that Snapchat was in use on the CU network and was associated with Brauchli’s account at the time that the video was shared out.
According to the affidavit, with the evidence obtained from the search warrant, CUPD found probable cause and arrested Brauchli. No bond has been set for Brauchli.
“This is very, very serious because in this particular situation, this graphic video was weaponized more than one time,” Christopher Decker, a criminal defense attorney and legal analyst for KDVR/KWGN, said.
He added that this is a good reminder to be careful what files you open or forward, and if you open something inappropriate, “You should delete it immediately and depending upon the circumstances you may want to report that to law enforcement.”
Brauchli’s next court date is May 4.
