Drone video shows Tri-Cities sex offender arrest after girl’s mom helped catch him

A concerned mother helped catch a registered sex offender who allegedly tried to meet with her 14-year-old daughter.

Brandon R. Gardner, 31, allegedly offered the teen $200 to “hangout for a night in a motel room,” but found Kennewick officers waiting for him at a 10th Avenue parking lot when he went to pick the girl up on Saturday morning, court documents said.

Gardner is in the Benton County jail charged with commercial sex abuse of a minor and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. He is being held in lieu of $300,000 bail.

Gardner is a registered sex offender after pleading guilty to communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and indecent liberties in 2014. He was considered a Level 1 offender, meaning officials believed he was the lowest risk to offend again.

Gardner initially reached out to the girl through Facebook in November calling her a “cutie” and asking how old she was, said court documents. The girl immediately blocked Gardner.

But her mom posed as her daughter on April 18, and told Gardner that she was 14. Gardner responded that he was 18.

When the woman confronted him about his age, he said he didn’t want to talk if it was going to scare her, but suggested that he had money “if you’re interested (and) wanna keep it a secret,” court documents said.

During the course of the next week, Gardner continued the conversation. He allegedly suggested that she could be paid to be his “escort” for the evening.

He said sex wouldn’t necessarily be involved, but she would get more money if it was, said court documents.

On April 24, he allegedly offered $100 or $200 to “just hangout for a night in a motel room.” He said they could “talk n chill” and asked if she smoked marijuana.

Court documents said he continued to pressure the “teen” to hang out with him, and suggested that she lie to her mother about spending time with him.

The woman reached out to Kennewick police on April 26 to tell them about what happened. Then a Kennewick officer took over posing as the teen.

Gardner allegedly agreed to meet the teen in a 10th Avenue parking lot. Police used a drone to confirm that he was there. Once they spotted his car, officers surrounded it and arrested him.

While he was being driven to the jail, Gardner allegedly denied talking to the girl to get sex. He agreed that he shouldn’t have talked to the girl, but “thought I was just going to hanging out with her and nothing else was going to happen.”