Frederick County Man Pleads Guilty to Sexually Abusing Two Minor Girls to Produce Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland – William Brown IV, age 41, of New Market, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to two counts of production of child pornography involving two minor female victims.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; Frederick County Sheriff Charles A. “Chuck” Jenkins; and Frederick County State’s Attorney J. Charles Smith III.

According to his guilty plea, beginning in August 2019 and continuing until January 2020, Brown repeatedly documented his sexual abuse of Jane Doe 1 by taking photographs and videos of the sexual abuse.  Brown also posed as GG, an adult film actor, and as a teenage boy to repeatedly coerce Jane Doe 1 to send him photographs of herself engaging in sexually explicit conduct through an Internet application, which she did.  Brown also admitted producing sexually explicit images of Jane Doe 2 over a two-year period, again posing as GG, and by installing a covert camera in a bathroom used by Jane Doe 2.

Specifically, as detailed in the plea agreement, in the summer of 2019, while posing as a teenage boy, Brown met Jane Doe 1 online, and began a relationship with her that included the exchange of sexually explicit photographs.  Brown sent Jane Doe 1 photographs of a teenage boy engaged in sexually explicit conduct that he had acquired online and coerced Jane Doe 1 to send sexually explicit photographs of herself.  Brown again contacted Jane Doe 1 online posing as GG—an adult film actor and musician who resides in Miami, Florida.  Brown repeatedly sent Jane Doe 1 sexually explicit photographs of GG that he had previously obtained on the Internet and coerced Jane Doe 1 to send him sexually explicit photographs of herself via the Internet application.

Jane Doe 1 eventually discovered that Brown was posing as a teenage boy and Brown disclosed his age and true identity to her.  Brown and Jane Doe 1 eventually met in person.  Beginning in September 2019 Brown met Jane Doe 1 approximately four times per week to engage in illegal sexual conduct at locations in Frederick County, Maryland, including, Brown’s home, Brown’s van, and Jane Doe 1’s home.  Brown would frequently use his cellular phone to take photographs and videos of his abuse of Jane Doe 1.

Brown admitted that he coerced Jane Doe 1 to send him sexually explicit photographs and videos of herself and would send her depictions of himself masturbating.  Brown also used an online video-teleconference system to view live-stream video of Jane Doe 1 engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  Brown provided Jane Doe 1 with sex toys, lingerie, and a phone to use to communicate with him without her parents’ knowledge.  Without Jane Doe 1’s knowledge or consent, Brown used online monitoring tools to track Jane Doe 1’s activity online and capture screenshots and videos of her activity, including any communications she had with others concerning him or GG.

According to his plea agreement, Brown, again posing as GG, met Jane Doe 2 online when she was approximately 12-13 years old.  Over a period of years, Brown, posing as GG, coerced Jane Doe 2 to send him sexually explicit photographs of herself.  On several occasions, Brown, posing as GG, provided Jane Doe 2 with cash in exchange for sending him sexually explicit photographs, which he hid at his residence.  Posing as GG, Brown also sent Jane Doe 2 various sex-related items in the mail, including lingerie, sex toys, and a DVD containing adult pornography.  Between June 2018 and September 2019, Brown installed a covert camera in a bathroom used by Jane Doe 2 without her knowledge, which captured images of Jane Doe 2 nude.  Brown eventually downloaded these images to his smartphone.  As he had with Jane Doe 1, Brown also used an online monitoring tool, without Jane Doe 2’s knowledge or consent, to track her activity online and capture screenshots and videos of her activity, including any communications she had with GG or others.

On February 3, 2020, law enforcement arrested Brown and executed a search and seizure warrant at his residence.  On February 4, 2020, law enforcement executed a second search and seizure warrant at the residence.  During the execution of the warrants, law enforcement seized, among other things, a personal computer, Brown’s work computer, a smartphone, and a hard drive which was hidden within a hollowed-out book. 

The seized items were forensically examined.  The phone, personal and work computers were found to contain depictions of Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  The personal computer and phone also contained screenshots of conversations between Brown, posing as GG, and Jane Doe 1 and numerous artifacts from the communication and tracking applications.  Brown’s phone also reflected that Brown had repeatedly accessed GG’s webpage to obtain nude photos of GG, as well as other sites referring to GG, and sites regarding catfishing—i.e., creating a fictitious online persona on social media to target a specific victim.  Finally, the hard drive, which was hidden within a hollowed-out book at Brown’s residence, contained approximately 100 images of minors, including prepubescent minors, engaged in sexually explicit conduct. 
Brown also admitted that he attempted to obstruct justice by writing a letter to one of the victims, after his arrest, in an effort to influence her potential testimony in connection with this matter.

Brown and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Brown will be sentenced to between 18 years and 27 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has scheduled sentencing for March 4, 2022 at 2:00 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 Erek L. Barron commended the HSI, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, and the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul A. Riley and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joyce King, who are 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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