Cecil County Woman Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges Related to Her Sexual Abuse of a Four Month Child

Baltimore, Maryland - Summer Nichole McCroskey, age 25, of Elkton, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to federal charges related to her participation in a conspiracy to sexually abuse a child, from the age of approximately four months to two years old, to producing and distributing images documenting the sexual abuse of the child, and to possession of child pornography.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Cecil County State’s Attorney James Dellmyer; and Cecil County Sheriff Scott Adams.

At today’s plea hearing, McCroskey admitted that she and her co-conspirator sexually abused a child, starting at the time the victim was approximately four months of age through at least October 2021, when the victim was two years old, and produced videos and images of the abuse.  The abuse included oral, vaginal, and anal penetration, as well as bondage, and both McCroskey and her co-conspirator participated in the abuse.  Additionally, McCroskey distributed the files documenting the sexual abuse of the child to her co-conspirator and others using an encrypted messaging application.

McCroskey faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison for conspiracy to sexually exploit a child and for each of seven counts of sexual exploitation of a child; a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for each of five counts of distribution of child pornography; and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for each of three counts of possession of child pornography.  U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for McCroskey on May 18, 2023, at 11:00 a.m.

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 Attorney’s 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 Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Cecil County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul E. Budlow and Colleen E. McGuinn who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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