Baltimore Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Soliciting Sexually Explicit Images of Children

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Court Judge Matthew J. Maddox sentenced Eugene Edward Golden, age 38, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 45 years in federal prison and lifetime supervised release, for conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child and for two counts of sexual exploitation of a child in order to produce and transmit a visual depiction of the sexually explicit conduct. 

The sentence was announced by Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, and Special Agent in Charge Michael S. McCarthy of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) Baltimore; Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland State Police (MSP); Chief Gregory Der, Howard County Police Department; and Commissioner Richard Worley, Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, beginning in at least 2019, Golden located several females, specifically six co-defendants — using dating or prostitution websites — and communicated with each of them individually using texts, messaging applications, and social media.  Golden requested for each woman to produce sexually explicit videos and images of children, citing his specific fetishes and directed them on what to do and say.  The defendant then had the women send him the files in exchange for financial compensation.

Golden’s co-defendants agreed to his requests and produced and distributed sexually explicit images and videos of at least 12 minor victims, using their cellphones.  The victims ranged in age from approximately one year old to 13 years old. Images and videos documenting the sexual abuse were found in Golden’s online accounts.  Golden produced and received well over 100 images and videos documenting the sexual abuse of children at his request.  The defendant had also amassed a large collection of commercially available child pornography.

In addition to Golden’s co-defendants, HSI and MSP were able to identify more females who produced and distributed sexually explicit images and videos of minors in their care and/or custody, resulting in two more separate child exploitation cases and the identification and rescue of two minor victims.  The victims were approximately one to four years old.

As detailed in Golden’s plea agreement, in accordance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”), upon his release from prison, Golden will be required to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, is an employee, and/or is a student.

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 U.S. 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.         

U.S. Attorney Barron commended HSI Baltimore, the MSP-led Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Howard County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Districts of Mississippi and Tennessee; and HSI in Jackson, MS, and Memphis.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Elizabeth McGuinn, who is prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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