Essex Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Carl Javan Ross, age 30, of Essex, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for receipt and possession of child pornography. Judge Motz ordered that the federal sentence be consecutive to the state sentence Ross is currently serving for sexual abuse of a minor. Judge Motz also ordered that upon his release from prison, Ross 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). Ross was convicted by a federal jury on December 7, 2016, after 30 minutes of deliberation.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to the evidence presented at his three-day trial, on July 2, 2015, an undercover Baltimore County detective was conducting an online investigation looking for offenders sharing child pornography on certain file sharing networks. The detective downloaded two video files documenting the sexual abuse of prepubescent children from an IP address later identified as being used by Ross.

Trial testimony showed that law enforcement executed a search warrant at Ross’ residence on July 28, 2015, and recovered his laptop computer. A preview of the computer showed that it contained a user hash, which is a unique value assigned by the file sharing program, identical to that of the computer that shared the two videos of child pornography downloaded by the detective. In addition, investigators found search terms indicative of child pornography and digital images of child pornography.

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 HSI Baltimore, the FBI, 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 Paul E. Budlow and Paul Riley, who prosecuted the federal case.