Baltimore man sentenced to federal prison for child pornography possession

BALTIMORE — Jerry James McGee, 29, of Baltimore, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison followed by 40 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett for possessing child pornography. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI and the Baltimore County Police Department, with the assistance of the Baltimore County State's Attorney.

Judge Bennett ordered that upon McGee's release from prison, McGee 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).

According to the plea agreement, on April 26 and 27, 2011, McGee communicated online with an undercover Baltimore County Police detective posing as a minor girl. McGee arranged to meet the "girl" to have sex in exchange for money. On April 27, McGee arrived at the agreed upon location with condoms and cash. He was subsequently arrested. A search warrant was executed at his home and a hard drive was seized that contained 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 Department of Justice 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 and Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

HSI is a founding member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok.