Parkville Woman Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Produce Child Pornography
Co-Conspirator Previously Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Margaret Ellen Jones, age 38, of Parkville, Maryland, today to 15 years in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for conspiring to produce child pornography. Judge Bredar ordered that upon her release from prison, Jones must register as a sex offender in the place where she resides, where she is an employee, and where she 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); and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to her plea agreement, prior to March 2010, Jones met John Blaes online and became involved in a sexual relationship involving bondage, discipline, sadism, and masochism (BDSM). Jones subsequently moved into Blaes’ home in Parkville. Blaes used the Internet to recruit other women and girls into the BDSM lifestyle as well.

On July 5, 2011, Blaes solicited a 15-year-old girl to engage in sexual conduct with him and Jones. Blaes and Jones, knowing that the victim was a vulnerable minor, sent pornographic pictures of themselves to the victim by computer.

On July 22, 2011, Blaes and Jones traveled to the victim’s home in North Carolina to bring her to live with them in Parkville. After picking the victim up, Blaes and Jones sexually abused the victim in the back of their vehicle. The next day, Blaes and Jones rented a hotel room in North Carolina to engage in sexually explicit conduct with the victim. Blaes and Jones used a camera to document the sexual abuse of the victim, including sadistic and masochistic conduct, in the van and the hotel.

From July 22 to November 20, 2011, Blaes and Jones engaged in sex with the victim many times a week. Blaes also cut the victim and held lemons to her injuries. The victim was instructed to call Blaes “master” or “sir” and to call Jones “mistress.” Blaes and Jones referred to the victim as their “slave.” Blaes and Jones instructed the victim to keep the sexual conduct and her age a secret, and the victim was kept in their residence or in their control at all times and was not enrolled in school.

Blaes and Jones used a camera and cell phones to document their sexual abuse of the victim and to photograph her in sexually explicit poses. Blaes distributed the sexually explicit images of the victim online to recruit other individuals into his BDSM lifestyle with Jones.

John Andrew Blaes, age 50, also of Parkville, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and to transporting a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Blaes was sentenced to 27 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

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, HSI Baltimore, and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel M. Yasser and Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the case.