Skip to main content
Press Release

Gwynn Oak Man Sentenced to Over 6 Years in Prison for Distribution and Possession of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis sentenced Roger Wayne Woods, age 35, of Gwynn Oak, Maryland, today to 78 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for two counts of distribution of child pornography and three counts of possession of child pornography. Judge Garbis ordered that upon his release from prison, Woods 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 Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson 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 court documents and information presented to the Court, Woods admitted that on September 20 and 21, 2014, he was using a file sharing program on his computer that shared information related to the location and contents of a collection of files that he was making available for others to download from his computer.  At least 50 of the 186 files that Woods made available for download contained visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  Over the course of those two days, an undercover detective from the Baltimore County Police Department downloaded sexually explicit images of prepubescent females. 

On October 21, 2014, a search warrant was executed at Woods’ residence.  Although Woods was not home at the time, his desktop computer was powered on and running the file sharing program.  A forensic preview of Woods’ desktop computer showed a folder where approximately 3,652 image and videos files were saved, the majority of which related to child modeling, child erotica and child pornography.  Later that day, Woods arrived home and was taken to a Baltimore County Police Precinct and advised of his rights.  Woods subsequently admitted that he had been using the file sharing program for 15 years and that he downloaded and saved child pornography files to his computer.  A subsequent forensic analysis of Woods’ desktop and an external hard drive seized during the search of his home resulted in the recovery of over 16,000 images and videos that depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  There were 222 distributed images of child pornography located on the desktop computer, including image and video files 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, the Baltimore County Police Department and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the case.

Updated January 5, 2016

Topic
Project Safe Childhood