Baltimore Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography
Collected Over 600 Images, Including Images of Young Children Who Were Bound/Restrained and Subjected to Physical and Sexual Abuse

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis sentenced Joel Stevens, age 52, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to four years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for possessing child pornography. Judge Garbis ordered that upon his release from prison, Stevens 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 and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to the plea agreement, on October 8, 2010 Stevens offered to share online digital images of “nice young girls or under 12” to another individual. Stevens discussed sharing files and provided the passwords so that the individual could access Stevens’ child pornography images and videos. Stevens made 77 digital files available to the other user, which contained visual depictions of minors under the age of 12 engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

On January 24, 2011, a search warrant was executed at Stevens’ residence. Two external hard drives and a computer were seized, containing sexually explicit photographs of Stevens and over 600 images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, including photographs of young children who are bound/restrained and subject to physical and sexual abuse.

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 and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark W. Crooks, who prosecuted the case.