Maryland man admits to sexually exploiting 2 children to produce child pornography

BALTIMORE — A Maryland man pleaded guilty Jan. 23 to sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with assistance from the Talbot County Sheriff's Office and the Talbot County State's Attorney's Office.

As part of his plea agreement, Paul Henry Brown, 70, of Easton, Md., 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.

According to the plea agreement, two girls under the age of 10 stated that they had been repeatedly sexually abused by Brown over the course of several months, including being forced to perform oral sex on Brown. On July 30, 2010, Talbot County deputies contacted Brown, who denied the allegations. On Aug. 11, 2010, Talbot County deputies executed a search warrant at Brown's residence and seized a digital camera and flash memory card. Further investigation revealed that the camera was used to take nude pictures of the two girls engaging in sexually explicit conduct. In one image, the two girls are sitting on Brown's lap, all of them naked. Two CD-Rs were also seized. These discs contained more than 600 images and many videos of child pornography, including portrayals of sadistic conduct. Most of the images involved prepubescent girls.

Brown faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years in prison followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release. His sentencing is scheduled for April 25.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE 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. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or its online tip form at http://www.ice.gov/webform/hsi-tip-form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

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