Maryland man sentenced to prison for distributing child pornography

BALTIMORE – A Maryland man was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for distributing child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Maryland State Police, and the Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office.

Frank Robert Tucker, Jr., 50, of Halethorpe, Md., was sentenced Jan. 13 to 121 months in prison followed by lifetime supervised release by U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar. Judge Bredar ordered that upon his release from prison, Tucker 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 Tucker's plea agreement, on Dec. 28, 2009, a Maryland State Police investigator accessed a public peer-to-peer network shared by Tucker and found that Tucker had 89 video files available for download, most of the names of which were consistent with child pornography. The investigator downloaded video files from Tucker's computer and discovered that they contained visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

On April 14, 2010, Maryland State Police searched Tucker's residence and found images of child pornography on a computer and the external hard drive. Some of these images included sadistic conduct or other depictions of violence. The external hard drive contained videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including images of bondage. According to government statements made to the court, numerous nude photos and videos of a developmentally disabled female were also found, including images of sexual contact between the female and Tucker.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Budlow.