Baltimore Man Sentenced for Possessing Child Pornography

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Jerry James McGee, age 29, of Baltimore, today to 30 months in prison, followed by 40 years of supervised release, for possessing child pornography. Judge Bennett ordered that upon his release from prison, McGee 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 Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (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 the plea agreement, on April 26-27, 2011, McGee communicated online with an undercover Baltimore County Police detective posing as a minor girl. McGee arranged to meet the “girl” to have sex in exchange for money or a boost mobile card. On April 27, McGee arrived at the agreed upon location with condoms and cash. McGee was arrested.

A search warrant was executed at his home and a hard drive was seized that contained child pornography.

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.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, HSI Baltimore, Baltimore County Police Department, and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the case.