Parkville Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Receipt of Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III sentenced Ruben Uy Lim, age 53, of Parkville, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release for receipt of child pornography.  In addition, Lim has admitted taking hundreds of videos of underage girls at swim meets, using a filter that allowed the camera to see through certain fabrics, including bathing suits.  Judge Russell ordered that, upon his release from prison, Lim 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 United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to his plea agreement, on November 17, 2015, Baltimore County Police detectives executed a search warrant at Lim’s residence and recovered electronic devices, including a hard drive.  A subsequent forensic examination of the hard drive revealed images and video files depicting prepubescent girls engaged in sexual acts, which had been received over the internet.

In addition, law enforcement recovered six video cameras and computer discs which contained hundreds of homemade videos dating back to 2004, which were taken at swim meets, on beaches and at water parks.  Lim took the videos using a filter that attached to the camera’s lens and allowed the camera to see through certain fabrics, including bathing suits.  Lim filmed middle and high school aged girls in such a way that their breasts and vaginal areas were visible in the recordings.  In the majority of the videos, Lim focused on the pubic area of the female swimmers.  Lim admitted that he traveled to swim meets around the country for the sole purpose of recording children using the special camera lens, which Lim referred to as the “X-Ray lens.”

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 HSI Baltimore, the FBI, Baltimore County Policed Department and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren E. Perry, who prosecuted the federal case.