Hagerstown Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Possessing Child Pornography

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced James Andrew Wagner, age 43, of Hagerstown, Maryland, today to four years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for possession of child pornography. Judge Bennett ordered that upon his release from prison, Wagner 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 April 7, 2011, an undercover FBI agent in Kansas City, Kansas downloaded 16 images from Wagner by using a file sharing program connected to the Internet. All the files depicted minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. On November 28, 2011, an undercover FBI agent in Baltimore used a file sharing program to download 58 files from Wagner that contained child pornography. On December 22, 2011, a search warrant was executed at Wagner’s home and agents seized computers and digital media. A review of the images on Wagner’s computers and other devices revealed well over 600 files of child pornography, separated into hundreds of folders organized by the name of the minor depicted in the files. At the time of the offense, Wagner was a civilian police officer at Fort Detrick.

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.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.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the case.