Montgomery County Woman Sentenced To 8 Years In Prison For Transporting And Possessing Child Pornography

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Katherine Noelle Nash, age 27, of Burtonsville, Maryland, today to eight years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for transporting and possessing child pornography. Judge Chasanow ordered that upon her release from prison, Nash must register as a sex offender in the place where she resides, where she is an employee, and where she is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.

According to her plea agreement, on September 8 and 9, 2013, Nash distributed nine videos depicting prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct to an undercover officer using a file sharing program.

On October 23, 2013, a search warrant was executed at Nash’s residence and law enforcement seized two computers and other digital media. One of the computers contained 12 images and a video file documenting Nash’s sexual abuse of a prepubescent female child, as well as sexually explicit conversations with another individual regarding the child. In addition, Nash possessed 37 files containing child pornography, including files that Nash had downloaded from the internet and distributed to the undercover officer. The second computer contained approximately 190 images and videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, Montgomery County Police Department and Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes and Kristi N. O’Malley, who prosecuted the case.