Port Deposit Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Receipt of Child Pornography
DVD Footage Depicts Ragan Having Sex with Boy

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Michael Dean Ragan, Jr., age 31, of Port Deposit, Maryland, yesterday to 12 years in prison, followed by 35 years of supervised release, for receipt of child pornography. Judge Hollander further ordered that upon his release from prison, Ragan will be required to 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 Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge Brian Murphy of the United States Secret Service-Baltimore Field Office; and Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.

According to the plea agreement, on January 30, 2011, law enforcement seized Ragan’s laptop computer, desktop computer, camera, hard drive, and other digital media during a search in an unrelated counterfeit currency investigation. Ragan later pleaded guilty to state counterfeit charges. Approximately 335 images and 17 videos of minors and prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including acts of sadism, masochism, or other depictions of violence, were found on the seized items.

In addition, a video on a DVD depicted Ragan engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a minor. The video was taken without the boy’s knowledge. Ragan also admitted to being an administrator on a website dedicated to viewing, sharing, and distributing child pornography. Ragan received a video on May 26, 2010, depicting two minor males engaging in sex.

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 Attorneys' 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.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the "Resources" tab on the left of the page.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, and Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation and thanked the Maryland State Police for its assistance. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the case.