Crownsville Man Sentenced to Six Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

 Johnson possessed More Than 12,000 images of child pornography; Defendant Ordered to Pay $45,000 in Restitution to Victims

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher today sentenced Jared Johnson, age 36, of Crownsville, Maryland, to six years in federal prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for possession of child pornography. Judge Gallagher also ordered Johnson to pay $45,000 in restitution to the victims.  Finally, Judge Gallagher ordered that, upon his release from prison, Johnson must register as a sex offender in the places 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 Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Chief Amal E. Awad of the Anne Arundel County Police Department; and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess.

According to his guilty plea, from May 2020 to August 2020, an internet cloud storage service provider sent the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children five cybertipline reports detailing hundreds of child pornography images uploaded to an account within its internet platform. The account was associated with Johnson’s cellular number and IP address located at Johnson’s Crownsville, Maryland residence. Over the course of five reports, the internet storage provider reported over 2,500 images of child pornography uploaded to Johnson’s account.

During a search of Johnson’s residence on July 24, 2020, Anne Arundel County detectives recovered Johnson’s cell phone and computer. The devices were hidden in the basement, submerged underwater within the basement’s sump pump system. A forensic analysis of the computer revealed that Johnson possessed over 12,000 images and videos of child pornography on the computer system.

After examination of Johnson’s online cloud account, Anne Arundel County Police detectives discovered thousands of images and videos containing child pornographic material, including a 38-minute video compilation depicting prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.         

Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the HSI, the Anne Arundel Police Department, and the Anne Arundel State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Duey who prosecuted the federal case.