Maryland man sentenced to prison for sexually exploiting 2 children

BALTIMORE — A 71-year-old Easton, Md., man was sentenced to more than 21 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Talbot County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the Talbot County State's Attorney's Office.

Paul Henry Brown was sentenced June 27 by U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. to 262 months in prison followed by lifetime supervised release. Judge Quarles ordered that upon his release from prison, Brown 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 sexually abused by Brown repeatedly over the course of several months, to include being forced to perform oral sex on Brown. Talbot County deputies contacted Brown July 30, 2010, and he 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 pictures of the two girls nude and engage in sexually explicit conduct. In one image, the two naked girls are sitting on Brown's lap. Two CD-Rs were also seized which contained more than 600 images and many videos of child pornography, including portrayals of sadistic conduct. Most of the images involve prepubescent girls.

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 its online tip form at http://www.ice.gov/webform/hsi-tip-form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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