A former state employee has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges, after explicit images of young boys were found on his former work computer, according to the State?s Attorney?s Office.
Ronald Draper Jr., a former Maryland Department of Natural Resources clerk, was originally indicted in Anne Arundel Circuit Court and charged inMarch 2007 with 137 counts of possessing child pornography and one count of using a computer to depict a minor engaged in sexual activity, according to charging documents.
Prosecutors dropped the charges Tuesday in Anne Arundel Circuit Court because of the pending federal case, said Kristin Fleckenstein, spokeswoman for the State?s Attorney?s Office.
The charges stem from March 24, 2007, when a new DNR employee opened a file on his desktop work computer and found what he believed to be “illegal material,”
according to charging documents.
The file, which was titled “Ron?s backup,” contained a written account of sex acts between a 33-year-old man named Ron and a 12-year-old juvenile, according to charging documents.
The computer had been assigned to Draper when he was a clerk from December 1998 to April 2006, according to charging documents.
State police confiscated the computer in September 2007 and found 137 photos of “young boys in various stages of arousal and undress,” according to charging documents.
Draper also faces child sex abuse and third-degree sex offense charges in Prince George?s County as well as a June 2007 fourth-degree sex offense charge in St. Mary?s County, according to court records.
