Previously Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced To Over 17 Years In Prison For Distribution Of Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Brian P. Davis, age 50, of Dundalk, Maryland, today to 210 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for distribution of child pornography. Judge Quarles ordered that upon his release from prison, Davis 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). In 1998, Davis was convicted of the sexual abuse of a minor in the Circuit Court of Baltimore County and as a result was required to register as a sex offender.

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); Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to Davis’ plea agreement, in 2005 he began using a file sharing network to search for, receive and distribute child pornography. Such networks are used to exchange and share files directly between computer users. On November 24, 2013, an undercover Baltimore County Police detective used a computer connected to the internet to conduct an investigation into the sharing of child pornography. The detective downloaded an image depicting a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct from a user who was making files containing child pornography available for others to download. The user sharing files was subsequently identified as Davis and a search warrant was executed at Davis’ residence on December 11, 2013. When officers from the Baltimore County Police Department entered the residence to conduct the search, they found Davis’ desk top computer in the basement. The computer was on and running a file sharing network. A detective conducted a forensic preview of the computer and located images depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. A full forensic examination of the computer found more than 600 images of child pornography, including images depicting prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

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, HSI Baltimore, Maryland State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Baltimore County Police Department and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary A. Myers and Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the case.