Glen Burnie Man Sentenced to over 8 Years in Prison for Distributing Child Pornography
Over 1400 Images and 136 Movies of Child Pornography Found on His Computer
Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced George Walter Ford, age 48, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, today to 97 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for distributing child pornography, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
According to Ford’s plea agreement, a computer technician and co-owner of a computer repair store reported to Anne Arundel County law enforcement officials that, while transferring data from an old hard drive belonging to Ford to a new hard drive, she observed images of young boys between the ages of eleven and fourteen years old performing sexual acts on adult males. The technician also reported seeing pictures of young children posing in the nude with their genitals exposed. A state search warrant was obtained for Ford’s residence and his computer was seized. A forensic analysis of Ford’s computers revealed approximately 1400 images and 136 movies documenting the sexual abuse of children. Along with these images and movies, numerous chats capture Ford both sending and receiving images of child pornography between November 14, 2006 and January 3, 2007. In many of the chats, Ford explicitly discusses what types of sexual acts he would like to perform on and with the young boys depicted in the photographs.
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 http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Anne Arundel County Police Department for their investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel M. Yasser and Bonnie S. Greenberg, who prosecuted the case.
