Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to More Than 11 Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis today sentenced Timothy Lawrence Day, age 59, of Rockville, Maryland, to 135 months in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for possession of child pornography.  Judge Xinis ordered Day to pay a $20,000 fine and a $5,000 special assessment.  Judge Xinis also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Day must continue to 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). 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge John Eisert of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Acting Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, on May 2, 2017, Day purchased and downloaded a file from a specific website, knowing that the file contained visual depictions documenting the sexual abuse of minors, including prepubescent children.  Specifically, the downloaded files depicted prepubescent minor girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct with adult men. 

On November 7 and November 19, 2018, law enforcement officers executed search warrants at Day’s residence and seized multiple electronic devices, including a desktop computer and two thumb drives that Day used to facilitate the receipt and possession of child pornography.  A subsequent forensic analysis of the seized electronic devices revealed at least 55 images depicting prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including sadistic conduct.  Additional evidence obtained during the investigation revealed that Day paid for the file he downloaded in May with a credit card in his name, and received the password to unencrypt the purchased folder using his personal e-mail address.  A search warrant executed on Day’s personal e-mail address revealed that on or about December 29, 2017, Day purchased another file that contained at least seven videos, plus at least 105 images depicting prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  In all, Day received and possessed more than 600 images of child pornography.

Day was previously convicted for possession of child pornography in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2002. 

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 Maryland State Police, and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin B. Pulice and Joseph R. Baldwin, who prosecuted the federal case.

# # #