FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
March 6, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LEONARDTOWN MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO TAKING SEXUALLY EXPLICIT PICTURES OF A MINOR
Greenbelt, Maryland - Christopher Michael Holland, age 32, of Leonardtown, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
According to his plea agreement, on April 30, 2008 FBI agents found an image from Holland’s laptop computer that had been seized from his residence under a search warrant, depicting Holland with his hand on the thigh of a naked prepubescent female whose genitals were exposed. The image was a picture taken by the laptop’s camera. Law enforcement agents interviewed Holland the next day and Holland stated that he had taken three such pictures using his laptop’s camera.
Holland faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, followed by supervised release up to life, and a $250,000 fine. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. scheduled sentencing for June 1, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.
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 (CEOS), 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. Details about Maryland’s program are available at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Glatfelter, who is prosecuting the case.