Last month, Brady Knatz, 26, from Hampstead, Maryland, was arrested and charged with multiple crimes stemming from allegations that he paid for sex with a teenage girl and sent another minor explicit content over Snapchat. As a result, Knatz was charged with multiple felony counts and two misdemeanor charges for his alleged criminal conduct.
In the first incident, Knatz reportedly began messaging a 15-year-old girl through the social media app Snapchat in September 2024. Officers began investigating Knatz when the girl’s mother discovered the messages on her daughter’s phone and reported them to law enforcement. According to reports, Knatz knew that the girl was a minor but continued to make sexual advances. Police claim that Knatz began asking the minor to send explicit photos “while describing disturbing sexual acts he wanted to perform on her.”
These messages allowed officers to identify Knatz, ultimately leading to his arrest on November 27. In connection with this incident, Knatz was charged with multiple counts of unlawful contact with a minor, producing child sexual abuse material, and corruption of minors.
In the second incident, Knatz allegedly paid a 13-year-old girl from Red Lion juvenile center for sex. Like the other minor victim, Knatz initiated contact with the 13-year-old through the social media app Snapchat in September 2024. The investigation began after someone from the youth center called saying the girl was “flaunting money, saying she engaged in sexual intercourse for the currency.”
The young girl shared that Knatz paid her to share sexually explicit photos through the app, and eventually paid her for sex. Similar to Knatz’s earlier incident, the girl told Knatz that she was a minor.
In October 2024, the York County Children’s Advocacy Center conducted a forensic interview with the victim. The interview revealed that Knatz and the young girl allegedly exchanged sexually explicit photographs with each other. Additionally, the girl shared that Knatz paid her $125 for agreeing to have sex with him in his car in her school parking lot.
After receiving a warrant to search the girl’s Snapchat account, law enforcement found sexually explicit messages between the Knatz and the young girl.
In connection with this incident, on November 27 Knatz was also arrested and charged with trafficking in individuals, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors, and indecent assault. He posted bail in the amount of $100,000.
According to the Pennsylvania State Police, after his release on bail, Knatz died by suicide.
Child sex offenders (CSOs) and accused CSOs are at high risk of death by suicide. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Behavioral Analysis (BAU) III-Crimes Against Children conducted a review of 106 cases involving male CSOs who committed suicide during the course of a child sex crime investigation. The data showed that, of the 106 CSOs, 79% were child pornography traders/collectors, 43% were child molesters, 21% were travelers, and 18% were child pornography producers. The FBI BAU analysis also revealed that nearly all were Caucasian and the majority were married, employed, and died via self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Of particular interest to researchers was that in 26% of the cases, the offender killed himself within 48 hours of his awareness of the investigation. In addition, 68% left a suicide note, which researchers noted is substantially higher than the general suicide population. Analysis of the notes revealed common themes, including “cognitive distortions, burdensomeness, shame, and self-blame.” The most frequently cited reason for the CSOs’ suicides in the notes was the child sex crime investigation.
As for the alleged crimes, law enforcement agencies recently released a warning about the increased presence of child predators on the internet. United States Attorney Todd Gee noted the importance of parents being aware of their children’s use of digital technology. Further, Gee stated the value of understanding how child predators use technology and social media to exploit children so parents can protect their children better.
The CSE Institute commends the efforts of the York County Police and cooperating agencies for their collaborative efforts to prosecute Knatz for his crimes against minors in our Commonwealth.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.