(Maryland) U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Daniel Walter Blake, age 33, of Hampstead, Maryland yesterday to 30 years in prison followed by supervised release for life for two counts of sexually exploiting a child to produce child pornography. Judge Quarles ordered that upon his release from prison, Blake 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).
On March 10, 2010, Maryland State Police troopers went to Blake’s home to investigate a report they received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that Blake was distributing child pornography involving prepubescent males. Blake admitted that he did have child pornography and produced 27 images of child pornography, as well as three micro SD media cards believed to contain child pornography.
Troopers obtained a search warrant and seized a number of items from Blake’s home. A forensic examination of Blake’s laptop and hard drive revealed over 1,000 images and over 500 video files of child pornography, including the images reported by NCMEC. Most of these images involved prepubescent boys and portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct, or other depictions of violence. The forensic review also showed that Blake used his computer to distribute some of these images.
Blake also admitted to abusing children, including two prepubescent boys whom he coerced to engage in sexually explicit conduct so that Blake could photograph that conduct. Those images were also found on Blake’s computer.
As part of his plea agreement, Blake acknowledges that at his sentencing on related state charges, scheduled for June 1, 2011, the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office will recommend a sentence of 60 years in prison, concurrent to his federal sentence, with all but 40 years suspended.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.
Resources at your disposal:
- Report Sexual Abuse | missingkids.com;
If You Or Someone You Know Is Being Abused - Don't Wait. They Can Help. - Prevent Child Sexual Abuse - Darkness to Light;
Empowering people to prevent child sexual abuse. ... Training for Staff and Volunteers · Plan for Reporting Suspected Abuse.
Comments