A Kansas City man who worked as a pediatrician in Overland Park pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to using hidden cameras to film child pornography multiple times, court records show.
Brian Aalbers, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography and 13 counts of attempting to produce child pornography before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lajuana M. Counts, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri.
According to court documents, he is accused of filming pornographic videos of thirteen minors, which he stored on personal devices and an iCloud account.
Aalbers signed a plea deal Wednesday, which could see him spend between 20 and 30 years in federal prison without parole, according to the news release.
A joint FBI and Kansas City Police Department investigation into Aalbers began in October 2023 after an anonymous tip about his secret cameras and their location. Shortly before his arrest, Aalbers contacted the same person who reported him and asked him to destroy his backpack, saying it contained “bad stuff,” according to an FBI statement.
On October 28, several hidden video cameras were found. On the same day, police officers voluntarily took Aalbers to a Lenexa mental health hospital. That’s when they seized two laptops, two iPad tablets and a cell phone, according to court documents.
According to court documents, FBI agents found more than 50,000 videos taken with the hidden cameras. More than 1,000 of these videos contained pornographic images of the 13 victims, along with another 163 videos and 1,000 photos on Aalbers’ iCloud account.
The locations of the cameras have not been made public.
Aalbers, a pediatric neurologist, was affiliated with Overland Park Regional Medical Center until his arrest. He was also an employee of Children’s Mercy Hospital from 2014 to 2017. After his arrest in 2023, the hospital sent letters to former patients and their parents and guardians.
During his bail hearing in 2023, a lawyer for Aalbers said he had resigned from his career as a doctor when the allegations came to light. However, according to the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, Aalbers is still certified as a doctor of osteopathy in Kansas.
At least two permanent protective orders and one temporary protective order have been filed against Aalbers by family members in connection with his arrest, according to court documents.
This article draws on previous reporting by Bill Lukitsch and Robert A. Cronkleton of The Star.
