Cecil County Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution of Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland –James J. Stanley, age 29, of Rising Sun, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to distribution of child pornography.  As part of his plea, Stanley also admitted to the attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Chief F.D. “Chip” Peterson, Jr. of the Rising Sun Police Department; and Cecil County State’s Attorney Ellis Rollins.

According to his plea agreement, Stanley used a website that hosts anonymous, randomized, one-to-one video and text chat. The website allows users to seek chat partners without creating an account or providing any identifying information, and markets itself as an opportunity for users to “Talk to strangers!” The website allows users to engage in text-based chat sessions with or without accompanying video from the user’s webcam.  On October 20, 2014, while Stanley was participating in a video chat session on the website he used his webcam to display an image documenting the sexual abuse of a prepubescent girl, which was stored on his computer or other digital storage media.

Stanley also admitted that prior to January 14, 2015, he placed a digital recording device in a shower that he knew would be used by a minor female (Girl1), with the intent to create video recordings of Girl 1 engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Between November 14, 2014 and January 14, 2015, Stanley saved a video file to his computer that depicted Girl 1 taking a shower.  Girl 1’s genital area is not visible in the video.  Stanley stated that he used his mobile phone to record Girl 1 showering on approximately 10 occasions, although other videos of Girl 1 were not recovered.

As part of his plea agreement, Stanley 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).

Stanley and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Stanley will be sentenced to between 10 and 20 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.  U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III has scheduled sentencing for April 8, 2016 at 11:00 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 HSI Baltimore, the Maryland State Police, Rising Sun Police Department, and the Cecil County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers, who is prosecuting the case.