Baltimore Man Pleads Guilty To Producing Child Pornography And Attempting to Entice A Minor To Engage In Sexual Activity

Baltimore, Maryland – David Ralph Fisher, age 43, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to producing child pornography and attempting to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sexually explicit activity. His ex-wife, Lori Fisher, age 46, of St. Cloud, Florida, pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography.

The guilty pleas were 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; Commissioner Anthony W. Batts of the Baltimore Police Department; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein.

According to their plea agreements, after repeated requests from David Fisher, Lori Fisher produced multiple sexually explicit photographs of two minor females, on at least two occasions between August and December of 2008. Lori Fisher took the photographs with her cell phone, then sent the images electronically to David Fisher via text message.

On November 4, 2012, the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) received information that images and videos of child pornography were observed on David Fisher’s external hard drive, located at his residence. The external hard drive was provided to the BPD and examined. Multiple files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were found. A search warrant was subsequently executed at David Fisher’s residence on November 20, 2012, and computers, cell phones and other items were seized and forensically examined. Sexually explicit email messages with attachments were recovered in which Fisher solicited child pornography from other individuals, and shared child pornography from his collection. Also, in February 2013, law enforcement confirmed that some of the sexually explicit images found on David’s computer and cell phone were images of the two minor girls that Lori Fisher had photographed and sent to David. In all, over 2200 images and 100 videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including prepubescent minors, were recovered.

On March 14, 2013, a BPD detective working in an undercover capacity contacted David Fisher on his Facebook profile posing as a 14 year old female. Between March 14 and April 11, 2013, David Fisher communicated with the undercover detective through Facebook and email. For many of these communications, Fisher was using a computer at a public library because his computer was seized during the search of his residence in November 2012. David Fisher asked the undercover detective to send him sexually explicit photographs and sent the undercover detective sexually explicit photographs of himself. In addition, Fisher gave the undercover detective his cell phone number and proposed meeting to engage in sexual activity. A meeting was arranged for April 11, 2013. Fisher was arrested when he arrived at the meeting location at the appointed time.

As part of their plea agreements, David and Lori Fisher will be required to register as a sex offender in the place where they reside, where they are employees, and where they are students, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

David Fisher faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison for production of child pornography, and a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison for coercing and enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Lori Fisher faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison for distribution of child pornography. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for David Fisher on April 3, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. and for Lori Fisher on June 11, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.

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, Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok, who is prosecuting the case.