ALMONT TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Complaints against Brandon John Cifani, 29, span several years and include allegations of fraud and sexual assault.
Background: How feds say Oakland County man posed as teen boy to exploit young girls online
One of the most recent reports filed in Almont, Michigan. A woman who filed the report there said she sure feels lucky after hearing the other allegations against Cifani.
“I thank God every day,” said Shelby Clark, who said she encountered Cifani when he was posing as a father looking for a babysitter for his son. “My family thanks God every day. My parents tell me I had an angel on my shoulder that day.”
Federal prosecutors said Cifani was posing online as a teen boy to sexually exploit young girls, and is now facing federal charges including sexual exploitation of children, receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography, coercion, and enticement of minors.
Border Patrol agents said they had been investigating Cifani for months and discovered photos and videos of underage girls on his phone at Detroit Metro Airport.
The feds said Cifani had been posing as a teen boy named “Brody” online — even asking a 12-year-old girl to perform sexual acts involving objects and allegedly recording her. They said Cifani also allegedly recorded other girls up their skirts without their knowledge.
Clark, who works part-time in childcare, told Local 4 that she first encountered Cifani through Care.com.
She said she soon discovered he had used the site posing as a father to try to find a babysitter.
She said that when Cifani came to her home, he waited outside for 20 minutes and did not have a child with him.
She said when they discussed childcare, he began asking inappropriate questions, like if she was in a relationship and if she would be willing to “go outside” of her relationship.
Then she said he asked to go upstairs with her.
“He’s like, so do you wanna go hang out up there? And I’m like, no,” Clark said. She said she became confused and concerned and began asking him questions.
Clark recalled, “So, are you here for childcare, or what exactly are you here for?”
When asked what he said, Clark replied, “Companionship.”
Clark said she told him to leave immediately, and as she began closing the door, she said he continued to act as if he had been invited in to hang out.
“He starts to tell me thanks for letting me come over and hang out and pet your dogs,” Clark said. “I slammed the door, and I’m like, I did not invite him over to hang out and pet my dogs!”
Still shocked at how close she had become to someone charged with such heinous crimes, Clark said she feels grateful he did not come after her physically.
“He could’ve attacked me going upstairs. He could’ve attacked me at the point of entry into my house,” she said. “That could’ve been me, and I’m glad it wasn’t.”
Records indicate that Cifani has a prior criminal history dating back several years.
He was charged with using counterfeit coins, lying to a peace officer, and forgery in 2018 and sentenced to a day in jail and placed on probation.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office told Local 4 that Cifani’s name appears in multiple reports there; the most recent was a sexual assault investigation in April of 2024, but they said prosecutors did not have enough evidence to file charges.
Meanwhile, Shelby Clark said she hopes Care.com will improve its background checks because of cases like this.
“He is completely removed from the community on there… that’s why I pushed so hard, and that’s why I spread it as much as I did, because this draws a line,” Clark and.
Local 4 reached out to Care.com and received the following statement:
“We are deeply disturbed by these allegations and are standing by, ready to help law enforcement.
Care.com conducts initial safety screenings on all members before they can message caregivers, including identity verification, a national sex offender search, and a multi-jurisdictional database search. All job posts and profiles are also reviewed, and Care.com promptly takes the steps to remove any individual who violates our policies. This individual joined our platform as a seeker and cleared our initial safety screenings in August 2025, but was removed shortly thereafter once Care.com learned of these allegations.
Care.com’s Safety Center provides further detail on our safety protocols, as well as resources and guidance for families and caregivers.”
Cifani is scheduled to appear in federal court in Detroit for a detention hearing on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025.