Baltimore County Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison For Possession of Child Pornography

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                  Contact BAILEY DRUMM 

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                               at (410) 209-4854

Baltimore, Maryland – Allen D. Isner, age 52, of Nottingham, Maryland was sentenced to four years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis. Isner pled guilty to possession of child pornography. Judge Garbis ordered that, upon his release from prison, Isner must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Baltimore County Police Chief James W. Johnson; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to the plea agreement, on July 24 and 25, 2014, undercover Baltimore County Police Detectives downloaded child pornography videos that were made publically available over a peer-to-peer file sharing network by a user later determined to be connecting to the internet from Isner’s residence. During execution of a search warrant at the home, investigators searched two of Isner’s computers and located hundreds of videos and images of prepubescent children being made to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Isner admitted to investigators that he searched for and obtained pornography depicting preteen children on the internet. He also admitted to deleting the child pornography after viewing it, and using anonymization software in an attempt to conceal his conduct.

338903. 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.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, HSI-Baltimore, the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers who prosecuted the federal case.