A father convicted in the methamphetamine death of his 2-month-old son is now accused of possessing multiple images of children being sexually assaulted by adults.
Bradford Ross, 26, previously of Penacook, faces 10 felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse images in September 2017. He was recently indicted by a Merrimack County grand jury while serving a 2½- to five-year state prison sentence for handling methamphetamine in close proximity to his son, Cayden Ross, who died in August 2016.
The new charges against Ross stem from a lengthy investigation by Concord police that began after Cayden’s death.
“When we were examining evidence pertaining to the original death investigation, we came across unrelated information that revealed evidence of child sexual abuse images on electronic devices,” Concord police Lt. Sean Ford said Monday. “We opened up a separate case against him, applied for a search warrant and expanded the scope of our searches to conduct two parallel investigations.”
Over the course of more than a year, detectives combed through storage devices to include cellphones and zip drives belonging to Ross, which form the basis for the 10 charges handed up late last month. Because Ross is incarcerated at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord, authorities decided to charge him through a direct indictment instead of executing a physical arrest.
More than a year ago, a judge sentenced Ross to prison on a felony prohibited conduct charge in addition to one count of possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute. More serious charges of negligent homicide and manslaughter were dismissed as part of a plea agreement reached with Merrimack County prosecutors.
At the time of Cayden’s death, Ross was living in a 14- by 7¾-foot travel camper parked on property at 54 Penacook St. His then-partner, Kayla Austin, and a 2-year-old girl, the couple’s first child, also lived there.
In a sworn affidavit, Concord police Detective Bryan Croft wrote that investigators who responded to the travel camper on Aug. 1, 2016, described the living conditions as “deplorable.” Officers observed pipes; hypodermic needles; ledgers; digital scales; and drugs, including prescription pills and methamphetamine. Police said Ross was running a lucrative drug business out of the temporary home.
The state medical examiner determined that Cayden died of methamphetamine intoxication. Toxicology results revealed methamphetamine in the infant’s blood and liver.
Police also arrested Austin in the months after her son’s death. She ultimately pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child for exposing her two children to methamphetamine. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail in January 2018. More serious charges were dismissed.
Ross is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 1 in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord on the 10 new charges.
(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319 or at adandrea@cmonitor.com.)