Rockville Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison for Transportation of Child Pornography

Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Gregory Thomas Clement, age 53, of Rockville, Maryland, yesterday to nine years in federal prison, followed by 15 years supervised release, for transportation of child pornography.  Judge Chuang also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Clement must 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 Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) Baltimore.

According to his guilty plea, on May 20, 2022, HSI received information from an international law enforcement agency about an individual who was using an encrypted chat application discussing a sexual interest in children.  Investigation revealed that the individual was Clement and on August 12, 2022, CBP Officers in Chicago conducted an outbound border search of Clement as he was boarding a plane to Japan.  After being advised of his rights, Clement provided agents with his phone, which revealed several images documenting his sexual abuse of a minor victim.  Law enforcement also conducted a search of Clement’s residence and a subsequent forensic analysis of several seized electronic devices recovered child pornography images and videos.

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 HSI for its work in the investigation and thanked U.S. Customs and Border Protection for its assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leah B. Grossi and Darren S. Gardner, who prosecuted 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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