Baltimore County and federal prosecutors are partnering to make sure a convicted sex offender from Dundalk spends the rest of his life behind bars.
“We?re going to try to work something out so he dies in prison,” Baltimore County Assistant State?s Attorney Susan Hazlett said Tuesday.
Baltimore County police charged Robert Paul Layton, 48, with sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy, soliciting sex from a 14-year-old boy and manufacturing drugs at the state level in February, but federal prosecutors plan to pursue additional charges, Hazlett said.
Layton?s trial in Baltimore County Circuit Court was postponed Tuesday as prosecutors ironed out the details of a plea agreement, she said.
Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney?s Office, said Layton has not been charged at the federal level, but that federal prosecutors are working with Baltimore County on child abuse cases as part of Project Safe Childhood.
“We do have an ongoing partnership with Baltimore County,” she said.
Layton?s attorney, Spencer Gordon, did not return phone calls.
Police arrested Layton on Feb. 6 after a 14-year-old boy told an officer at Dundalk Middle School that Layton solicited him for sex, charging documents said. He also told the officer that his 13-year-old friend had engaged in a sex act with Layton, police said.
Investigation revealed that Layton abused the 13-year-old and solicited the 14-year-old in January while the boys played pool at Layton?s house with friends, police said.
After Layton?s arrest, detectives said they recovered several nude photographs of boys during a search of his residence.
The officer also learned during his investigation that Layton was a registered child sex offender in Maryland. Court records show Layton was convicted of three counts of third-degree sex offense in Prince George?s County in 1995.
Detectives said they fear Layton has also abused other children.
