The child pornography was so vulgar, Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein can?t bring himself to discuss it.
“It?s extraordinarily vile,” he said. “You?re talking about things we can?t even speak about comfortably in a private room.”
Rosenstein announced federal grand jury indictments on Monday against four Maryland men, including ones from Pasadena and Joppa, alleging they possessed child pornography, some of which contained bestiality, incest, bondage and physical abuse of minors. Flanked by federal and state law enforcement officers at his Baltimore office, Rosenstein warned parents not to let their children use the Internet unsupervised.
The indictments came as part of a new operation called Project Safe Childhood, which combines local, state and federal authorities to combat online child exploitation and abuse.
“Most defendants who are caught and convicted of possessing child pornography have done far more than just look at the pictures,” Rosenstein said. “Many of them personally have raped one or more children.”
Frank Goetz, assistant special agent in charge of the Baltimore City branch of the FBI, said the federal authorities have partnered with international agencies to catch the creators of child porn.
“A lot of these photos are produced outside of the United States,” he said.
The federal grand jury in Baltimore City indicted
» James L. Watson, 43, of Pasadena, is accused of possessing hundreds of thousands of pictures and video files depicting child pornography, including images of bestiality, incest, bondage and physical abuse of minors. He faces from 15 to 40 years in prison if convicted.
» Steven D. Buckley, 36, of Cordova, is accused of sexually exploiting a girl younger than 12 to produce nude, sexually explicit photographs; trying to receive child porn by soliciting an undercover FBI agent; and possessing images and movie files, including images produced in Germany. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
» Robert B. Reeves, 43, of Forest Hill, is accused of possessing still images of child pornography, including pictures taken in Belgium and the United Kingdom. He faces from 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted.
» David B. Mentzer, 51, of Joppa, is accused of possessing still images of child pornography, including pictures taken in Russia. He faces from 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted.
