GREENEVILLE, NC- A South Carolina man who reported the murder of his fiancée in 2021 was sentenced to prison for seven years on one count each of second-and third-degree sexual exploitation of a child, court records obtained by PEOPLE Magazine showed.
Bradly Post was charged with the sexual exploitation charges when evidence of those crimes arose during the murder investigation over Christina Parcell’s death. It was during that investigation that detectives discovered child sexual abuse material in his possession.
PEOPLE reported that Post had already been under investigation at the time of Parcell’s death, but while searching for a suspect in that case, the materials were discovered and used to charge Post with separate crimes.
On Oct. 13, 2021, Post called police and reported finding Parcell’s body, covered with blood, on the floor of her living room, court documents showed. Post cooperated at the scene and accompanied them in searching her residence.
The investigation eventually led to Zachary David Hughes, 29, a pianist who was trained at Juilliard in New York City and who performed worldwide. The crime scene was described by Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis as “a very brutal crime scene,” noting that Parcell had been “brutally stabbed multiple times.”
Hughes admitted to stabbing Parcell, 41, however both he and his attorney said the crime was committed for “just cause.” He told the court that his friend, the father of Parcell’s daughter, was “distressed about the safety of his daughter,” the Greenville News reported.
Hughes said he eventually became “absolutely convinced” that Parcell’s daughter was being sexually abused, WSPA reported. Prosecutors said Hughes and Parcell had never met.
“I told him the only way I would ever consider taking action like this is if I was absolutely convinced that his daughter was not only in danger, but that the only way to rescue her from that danger would be to take Christina Parcell’s life,” Hughes testified, according to the Greenville News.
Eight days after Parcell’s murder, Post was arrested.
As part of their investigation, police asked for Parcell’s phone as evidence in the murder case, which was provided. However, when police asked for the PIN number to open the phone, Post lawyered up.
During the course of discovery related to a lawsuit filed on behalf of one of Post’s victims, investigators found a trove of child sexual abuse material.
The lawsuit accused Parcell of being involved in producing the material, alleging that the victim was “photographed and videoed in various stages of undress” by Post, who “with the consent and assistance of Parcell, imported these photographs/videos to his cell phone and computer and saved them in files on his computers and other storage devices, making the Plaintiff, Jane Doe, the object of child pornography.”
The victim and Parcell’s young daughter were friends, and the alleged victim was photographed while in Parcell’s care.
Post was eventually charged with five additional counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one day after his arrest, and in the subsequent months was also charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and buggery.
Prosecutors and Post eventually reached a deal that allowed him to plead guilty to the two lesser charges.
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