Baltimore County Man Who Enticed Children To Send Him Sexually Explicit Videos Of Themselves Pleads Guilty To Producing Child Pornography

                                                                                                  Contact MARCIA MURPHY

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

Greenbelt, Maryland – Keith Edward Taylor, age 33, of Kingsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to production of child pornography.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Acting Special Agent in Charge Cardell T. Morant of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief Terrence B. Sheridan of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.

According to Taylor’s plea agreement, in 2017, Taylor used an instant-messaging software application to communicate with minors throughout the United States and internationally.  Specifically, Taylor admitted that he engaged in sexually explicit conversations with at least five minor male victims, ranging from 12 to 15 years old, and residing in various states, including Texas, Massachusetts, Iowa, Michigan, and Colorado.  During the course of his conversations with the boys, Taylor typically portrayed himself as a woman.  Taylor repeatedly requested that the boys send sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  Taylor sent some of the boys sexually explicit photos of women, falsely claiming that they were photos of himself.

Taylor further admitted using the messaging app to distribute and trade child pornography with adults.  For example, during December 2017, Taylor traded child pornography with a user who sent Taylor a live photo of a child that the user claimed was his own stepchild.  Taylor repeatedly requested sexually explicit photos of the child and discussed the other user engaging in sex acts with the child.  Taylor also maintained digital collections of child pornography in multiple cloud storage accounts and electronic devices. 

As part of his plea agreement, Taylor must register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

Taylor faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years in prison followed by up to lifetime of supervised release for production of child pornography.   U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for November 30, 2018 at 3 p.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 Attorney’s 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 Robert K. Hur commended HSI-Baltimore, the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Maddox, who is prosecuting the federal case.

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