Joppa Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Enticing a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg sentenced Larry W. Warner, Jr., age 33, of Joppa, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison, followed by supervised release for life, for enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. Judge Legg also ordered that upon his release from prison Warner must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to his plea agreement, in September and November, 2010, Warner posted advertisements in an online website seeking girls’ underwear for Warner to use in an act which Warner described in a sexually explicit manner. A Baltimore County detective responded to the ads, in one instance representing that he was the father of a minor girl, and in the second instance representing that he was a prepubescent minor girl. In each case, Warner engaged in graphic sexual conversations and sent sexually explicit electronic photos of children or himself to the undercover detective.

On November 3, 2010, Warner agreed to travel to a Baltimore County hotel to have sexual contact with what he thought was the minor daughter of the undercover detective, but Warner later cancelled the meeting, stating that his father was in the hospital.

In October and November of 2010, Warner posted additional online ads wherein he offered free babysitting services for young children while also describing his own build, genitalia and sexual tendencies.

After several sexually explicit online conversations with the undercover detective, on November 30, 2010, Warner arranged to meet the supposed minor girl and her younger sister in Essex, Maryland, in order to engage in sexual activity. On December 1, 2010, Warner drove to the meeting place and was arrested by Baltimore County Police officers.

On December 2, 2010, Baltimore County Police officers executed a search warrant at Warner’s home and recovered a personal computer containing numerous images of child pornography.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. Details about Maryland’s program are available at www.justice.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, ICE-HIS; the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark W. Crooks, who prosecuted the case.