20 May Maryland firefighter accused of child pornography, pleads guilty

On behalf of Jack B. Rubin, PA posted in Internet Crimes on Monday, May 20, 2013.

We posted back on Jan. 7 about a Maryland firefighter facing child pornography charges in federal court (“Baltimore County firefighter facing child pornography charges”). Recently, the 23-year-old man who had been accused of child pornography chose to plead guilty to both possession and production of child porn. In some situations, accused individuals find it more advantageous to plead guilty to charges that they face rather than taking a case in front of a judge or jury to decide.

This man had been facing as much as 30 years in prison for two counts of child pornography production. Additionally, he could have received 10 years of imprisonment for the possession accusation. In the wake of his guilty plea, the former firefighter will be sentenced to at least 15 years of a mandatory minimum period of incarceration.

He had also previously entered a guilty plea in a Baltimore County court regarding a charge of sexually abusing a minor. Authorities had alleged that the man purchased alcohol for at least one of his underage victims before thereafter engaging in sexual acts. The former firefighter is set to be sentenced in the Baltimore County case in late June, and in the federal case in July.

Being accused of child pornography in the state of Maryland can be a difficult time in a person’s life. While the presumption of innocence is extended to each person in such a situation, sometimes the facts of a specific case warrant a guilty plea. Each accused individual must make this decision for him or herself, however.

Source: The Baltimore Sun, “Former Lansdowne firefighter pleads guilty to U.S. child porn charges,” Jessica Anderson, May 8, 2013