Who is Brandon Keith Mitchell? Convicted Sex Offender’s Viral Gay Surrogacy Video Sparks Concerns About Pennsylvania’s Adoption Laws

A viral video of a gay couple celebrating their surrogacy journey has sparked outrage after it emerged that one of the men is a convicted sex offender who obtained custody of a newborn baby by taking advantage of a legal loophole that bypasses adoption restrictions.

Brandon Keith Mitchell, who appears in the widely shared video with his husband Logan Riley and their infant son, is a Tier 1 sex offender in Pennsylvania who was convicted in 2016 for the sexual exploitation of a minor whilst working as a high school chemistry teacher.

The Viral Surrogacy Celebration Video

The couple’s video, originally posted to showcase their “surrogacy journey,” gained widespread attention after being reposted on 27 July by Irish activist Derek Blighe on X, amassing more than a million views on the platform.

Less than 24 hours of the video going viral, investigative reporting by Reduxx confirmed that Mitchell is a registered sex offender.

The revelation sparked outrage in the comments section, with viewers expressing their disbelief over how a convicted sex offender was allowed to adopt a child.

“How does this even happen? the adoption agency doesn’t have google?” wrote one user, while another commented, “He’s a sex offender and he can’t be near a child.”

“Someone rescue that child,” opined a third user.

Mitchell was Convicted Over Sexual Misconduct with a 16-Year-Old Male Student at a School Where He was Employed as a Teacher

According to records from the Chester County District Attorney’s Office and Downingtown Police Department, Mitchell was arrested on 3 February 2016 after a months-long investigation into his conduct with a 16-year-old male student at Downingtown West High School.

The investigation revealed that Mitchell, then 30, had exchanged over 12,000 text messages with the victim between May 2013 and December 2014. Police found that Mitchell had solicited nude photographs from the student, sent approximately 20 nude photographs of himself, and told the victim he wanted to watch him engage in sexual acts.

“Police also recovered hundreds of other sexually explicit videos of the child on Mitchell’s laptop computer,” according to court documents.

Mitchell was charged with multiple felonies including possession of child pornography, sexual abuse of children, endangering the welfare of children, and corruption of minors. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to up to 23 months of incarceration, though court records show he was granted parole just two months after conviction.

Mitchell Hid His Criminal History

Following his conviction, Mitchell was required to surrender his teaching licence and prohibited from unsupervised contact with minors. He subsequently obtained employment as a chemist at Eurofins BioPharma Product Testing in Lancaster, where he has worked for nine years.

In 2021, Mitchell married Logan Riley, a second-grade teacher from Maryland. The couple launched a GoFundMe in 2023 to raise money for surrogacy, with Mitchell advertising the fundraiser on his LinkedIn profile. The fundraising page, which raised just over $2,000) of their $50,000) goal, made no mention of Mitchell’s criminal history or sex offender status.

“My name is Logan and I am a 2nd grade teacher,” the GoFundMe description read. “My fiancé’s name is Brandon and he works in a pharmaceutical laboratory… He values family and friends and he is excited to start our new family.”

How did Mitchell Manage to Bypass the Adoption Laws?

Pennsylvania State Police confirmed to Reduxx that whilst the state’s adoption laws prohibit sex offenders from adopting or fostering children, gestational surrogacy arrangements circumvent these protections through pre-birth parentage orders.

Pennsylvania is considered a “surrogate-friendly” state where intended parents can obtain pre-birth orders during the surrogate’s second trimester, declaring them as legal parents and placing their names on the birth certificate without undergoing the screening required for adoption.

“The state does not automatically forbid individuals convicted of sex crimes from having children, gaining custody, or exercising parental rights,” Pennsylvania State Police confirmed. It remains unclear whether the surrogate was informed of Mitchell’s sex offender status before agreeing to the arrangement.