Doctor sentenced to 25 years for secretly recording 13 children
- Dignity 4Patients
- May 14
- 2 min read
By Robert A. Cronkleton - Kansas City Star - 14.05.2025 - [USA] - [Dr.Brian Michael Aalbers]
A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former Johnson County pediatric physician to 25 years in federal prison for using hidden video cameras to secretly record children to produce child sex abuse materials, according to court documents.
Brian Michael Aalbers, 51, pleaded guilty in October to one count of possessing and 13 counts of attempting to create child sex abuse materials over three years from Oct. 4, 2020, to Oct. 28, 2023.
Prosecutors alleged Aalbers recorded 13 child victims and stored the files on personal devices and an iCloud account, according to court documents.
Judge Brian Wimes with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri sentenced Aalbers to 25 years for each of the 13 counts of attempting to produce child sex abuse materials and 12 years in prison for possession of child sex abuse materials. Wimes ordered the sentences to be served concurrently.
Upon his release from prison, Aalbers will be supervised for life. He also was ordered to pay $1,400 in penalties and $9,524 in restitution.
Aalbers, a pediatric neurologist, was affiliated with Overland Park Regional Medical Center in Overland Park at the time of his arrest. He also was on staff at Children’s Mercy Hospital from 2014 to 2017. According to the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, Aalbers’ certification as a doctor of osteopathy in Kansas was canceled in October after he failed to renew his license.
After Aalbers’ arrest, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office received concerns that the victims were patients of Aalbers’ practice. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in October that the investigation had determined that there was no evidence to indicate that Aalbers victimized any current or former patients. The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to provide any additional information to protect and maintain the privacy of the victims. A joint FBI and Kansas City Police Department investigation into Aalbers began in October 2023 after receiving an anonymous tip about the secret cameras. Shortly before his arrest, a witness contacted officers to report that Aalbers was sending suicidal text messages.
Lenexa police found Aalbers and took him to a hospital for voluntary mental treatment. At the time, he had two laptop computers, two iPad tablets, and a cellphone inside a backpack in his possession.
While admitted, Aalbers allegedly contacted a person who had reported him to police and asked that his backpack be retrieved. Aalbers allegedly asked the person to destroy the items because there was “bad stuff” on the devices, according to court documents.
Investigators obtained search warrants for the devices, cameras and electronics owned by Aalbers. They allegedly found more than 50,000 video files associated with the hidden cameras, including more than 1,000 videos that contained child sex abuse materials of the 13 victims, according to court documents.
Investigators allegedly found an additional 1,000 images and 163 videos on Aalbers’ iCloud account. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article and were abused in state run medical and health facilities, you can contact Dignity4Patients, whose helpline is open Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm.
