Reddit users are expressing outrage after learning that a moderator involved in three of the largest trans-focused subreddits is a child sex offender, and may have received protection from another transgender moderator. Branden Michael Dunleavy, also known as Brynn or u/ranshin-da-anarchist, has deleted his Reddit account since the revelations.
Information about Dunleavy’s identity first began circulating on Reddit on Saturday after user u/Living-East-8486 posted a warning on his account claiming that u/Cedarwolf, the top moderator at r/MTF, “attempted to keep a convicted child predator on the r/MTF moderator team.”
In his post, u/Living-East-8486 described a dispute that had emerged on r/MTF involving u/Cedarwolf, hinting that the two had a falling out that ultimately had prompted u/Living-East-8486 to come forward and clarify the allegations.
“The primary thing I’ve been pondering is how on earth I can actually bring this to light without making it seem like I’m just trying to get revenge. To be honest, I don’t think there is any foolproof way for me to do that. Frankly, I’m furious over this situation,” u/Living-East-8486 wrote. “This moderator’s primary reasoning for excluding me from the community was to ‘protect the children’ from my weird ass kink posts (which were always marked 18+). Then I find out that they are openly defending a child predator being on the mod team.”
u/Living-East-8486 included a number of screenshots from what appeared to be private Discord conversations in late 2025.
In one message, top r/MTF moderator u/Cedarwolf, under the handle Cedarpaw, expresses a reluctance to remove Dunleavy from the team because “the next few years are going to be very hard for trans folks,” and instead suggests Dunleavy change his username to better hide his identity.
u/Cedarwolf suggests Dunleavy can establish a fresh Reddit reputation under the “new” username by “spending a week” on other subreddits.
The next screenshot shows other anonymized users, presumably other r/MTF moderators, firmly rejecting the plan and threatening to leave the moderation team if Dunleavy was allowed to remain in a position of authority.
“I just want you to ask yourself how this would look from an outsider’s perspective,” one anonymized user proposes. “A registered sex offender was on the mod team. Said sex offender was removed, then reinstated under a new account to keep them in a position of authority. All this in a community that has been repeatedly bashed as sexual deviants in what is now (unfortunately) Mainstream Media. In a community that has minors in it.”
Another user agrees, writing: “Yeah I can’t sufficiently express how bad of an idea that would be. If you’re going to ignore Lilith, send me a Discord message first so I can nuke my account before that happens.”
The next screenshot posted by u/Living-East-8486 features a user more comprehensively diving in to Dunleavy’s past, and revealing that Dunleavy had been confronted about his sex offender registration and had initially attempted to downplay it. The user referred to Dunleavy using “she/her” pronouns.
“When Brynn was asked about her being in the Sex Offender Registry, notably for ‘Sexual Exploitation of Minors,’ she expressed that the charge was overblown, and it was simply because ‘she was 19, dating a 15 year old, with parental permission, and her roommate ratted her out to the cops.”
However, according to the South Carolina Sex Offender Database, Dunleavy was 21 at the time the offenses occurred, and his specific conviction related to the possession of child sexual abuse material.
Dunleavy was convicted under South Carolina Code § 16-15-410, law dealing with “Third Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.” Under §16-15-410, a person commits the crime if they knowingly possess material (photos, videos, digital files, etc.) that shows a minor engaged in sexual activity or in sexually explicit nudity. In simple terms, the statute mainly targets possession of child pornography.
In the screenshot posted by u/Living-East-8486, the anonymized user continues by noting that Dunleavy’s explanation had seemed suspicious.
“Turns out Brynn had been going onto Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) websites, collecting CSAM content, and hanging out in underage chatrooms to solicit sexual interactions from minors,” the user reveals. “Additionally, while the age of the victim wasn’t stated, nude photos of Brynn’s underage ‘partner’ were found on her phone at the time of the arrest. According to what we saw, the images were taken by Brynn without consent from the child.”
Disturbingly, the user notes that they had contacted Dunleavy’s former partner, who revealed that Dunleavy had once tried attending therapy but had quit after deciding that he had a “normal and healthy attraction towards young girls in their prime fertile years.”
Dunleavy had reportedly attended middle school graduation ceremonies in his 30s, and engaged in sexual conversations with teens present.
Dunleavy’s ex-partner also accused him of sexual assault and sexual aggression, and noted that his behavior had ultimately led to the breakdown of the relationship.
u/Living-East-8486’s post on Dunleavy and u/Cedarwolf has attracted ample attention within transgender Reddit communities, with many accusing the moderators of negligence for allowing a convicted child sex offender to be active in a subreddit where minors are present.
Attempts to spread u/Living-East-8486’s post have faced resistance. On r/asktransgender, another user, u/Pupenby621, attempted to call attention to the concerns about Dunleavy, but the post was quickly deleted by the moderators of r/asktransgender.
In addition to being a moderator at r/MTF, Dunleavy was a moderator for r/LGBT and r/egg_IRL. Moderators on those subreddits apparently became aware of Dunleavy’s identity in late 2025 or early 2026 after receiving a private message to the moderator account, but initially wrote off the claims as “trolling.” After receiving confirmation, he was reportedly removed from those two communities.
Dunleavy has since deleted his Reddit account. Meanwhile, u/Cedarwolf appears to be avoiding addressing the allegations that he attempted to assist Dunleavy in retaining his moderation position. Users on r/MTF appear to be now calling for u/Cedarwolf’s resignation as a result, while others have announced their decision to leave the subreddit due to the controversy.
relating to the mods
by u/Lostpokemonfan777 in MtF
Reddit has repeatedly experienced scandals involving trans-identified users in positions of power, both in voluntary moderator positions, and those directly employed by the company.
Most notably, in 2021, widespread protests were seen across the site after Aimee Challenor was brought on as a top-level administrator.
Challenor, also known as Aimee Knight, is a trans-identified male who was formerly seen as a rising star within Britain’s Green Party. Three years prior, however, he was forced to pull out of the race to become deputy leader of the party at just aged 20 after it was revealed that he had hired his father to work on his campaign after being charged for the rape and torture of a 10-year-old girl.
Challenor nevertheless hid his father’s sickening past from the public before it was discovered in what the party would later call a “major safeguarding risk.” While under scrutiny, Challenor’s romantic partner was similarly embroiled in controversy after internet sleuths discovered he had admitted to becoming aroused while fantasizing about children being sexually abused.
oh, and just incase you missed it: Aimee Challenor is allegedly in a 'polycule' with two individuals.
— pagliacci the hated 🌝 (@Slatzism) March 25, 2021
Nathanial Knight, a man who admitted to fantasising about children having sex and using 'mind control' on them, and Katrina Swales, another transwoman, who has a baby fetish. pic.twitter.com/MU71dUQwtW
After being hired on at Reddit as a top administrator, multiple popular subreddits locked their communities down in protest of Challenor’s involvement in the site’s administration. He was later terminated from the post.
Scandals have continued to abound on the platform, including when in 2022 the site banned the term “groomer” as being a slur against the LGBTQ community. This received pushback from many users, and groups such as Gays Against Groomers.
“By banning this word from their platform in such terms, Reddit is not only inadvertently expressing their support for the grooming and abuse of children, but also paints our community … as those who support and engage in it,” Jaime Michell, the founder of GAG, told Reduxx at the time.
In another controversy, a transgender Reddit moderator who was allegedly involved in banning a subreddit for women critical of gender ideology was revealed to have a prior conviction for domestic abuse.
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