Sex Offender Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake today sentenced Michael Gene Reed, age 40, of Dundalk, Maryland, to 12 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for possession of child pornography and for violating his supervised release on a previous federal sex offense conviction.  Upon his release from prison, Reed must again 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; Acting Special Agent in Charge Cardell T. Morant of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jennifer L. Moore of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Terrence B. Sheridan of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to his plea agreement, on February 24, 2009, Reed was convicted of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and possession of child pornography in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.  Reed was sentenced to 90 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, and was required to register as a sex offender upon his release.  Reed was released from prison on December 24, 2014, and began his supervised release.

Reed admitted that on June 25, 2017 and December 27, 2017, Reed reported to Maryland’s Sex Offender Registry that he resided in an apartment in Dundalk.  However, as of November 2017, Reed resided at a rowhome three miles away from his reported residence, with his girlfriend and her minor daughter.  Reed did not report to his probation officer that he had moved or that he was living with a minor, as required by the terms of his supervised release.

As detailed in his plea agreement, Reed also participated in an online anonymous chatroom service that does not require user registration.  Users can access chatrooms by entering the name of the room and creating a nickname for themselves.  Once in the room, users can chat and share images with one another.  Reed admitted that on February 14 and November 17, 2017, Reed joined chatrooms using the names “kinkfan” and “pedoperv,” respectively.  On each occasion, Reed shared an image with the other users in the chatroom, specifically, an image of two minor girls engaged in sexually suggestive behavior, and an image of an adult male sexually abusing a prepubescent girl.

On January 11, 2018, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Reed’s girlfriend’s rowhome.  Reed admitted to law enforcement that he used his work cellphone to chat on the anonymous site, and that he did not report his new address because he did not want his girlfriend’s daughter and her father to learn about his prior conviction.  Reed also possessed images documenting the sexual abuse of prepubescent minors.

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 the FBI, HSI-Baltimore, the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation, and thanked the Baltimore City Police Department for its assistance.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers, who prosecuted the federal case.

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