Sex Offender Sentenced to 19 Years in Federal Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Several Minors

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox sentenced Lewis Ismael Blandon, age 37, of Edgewood, Maryland, to 19 years in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for sexual exploitation of a child to produce a visual depiction of the sexual conduct.  Judge Maddox also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Blandon must continue to register as a sex offender in the places 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 Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.

According to his guilty plea between 2002 through 2006, Blandon sexually abused a minor victim who was 12 years old at the time the abuse began.  Blandon coerced and enticed the victim to engage in the sexual conduct by using cell phone calls to arrange visits and using the chat feature on video games.  In addition, between 2020 and 2021, Blandon used several different online accounts with social media companies to exploit his victims.  Using a variety of aliases and handles on these platforms, Blandon communicated with several minor males, coercing and enticing them to produce sexually explicit images.  Blandon admitted that he also sent images of his own genitalia to the minor males in order to cause them to reciprocate.  Finally, Blandon also distributed commercially available child pornography on a messaging application to another user.

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 and Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Elizabeth McGuinn, who is prosecuting the federal 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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