Steven Edward Baker, Produced Child Pornography, Kensington MD, 2023

Steven Edward Baker, a 41-year-old man from Kensington, Maryland, has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for producing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm handed down the sentence, which will be followed by lifetime supervised release.

According to the plea agreement, Baker admitted to having child pornography on both his work and home computers, and estimated that his collection was approximately one terabyte in size. Further investigation revealed 45 images and seven videos of a girl under the age of 12, all constituting child pornography, and produced by Baker.

The images and videos were produced by Baker from January 2008 to July 2013, using two cameras. The images included close-ups of the victim, including numerous close-ups of the victim’s genitalia, and showing Baker touching areas in and around her genitalia. Additionally, over 50,000 images and 1,000 videos of child pornography were found on the digital media, which were not produced by Baker but were downloaded from the internet.

These images and videos depict real, prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The 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.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas M. Sullivan, who prosecuted the case. Judge Grimm also ordered that upon his release from prison, Baker 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 is a significant step in the ongoing effort to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.

The FBI’s work in this case is a testament to the agency’s commitment to protecting children from exploitation and abuse. The investigation and prosecution of Baker demonstrate the importance of collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the Department of Justice in combating child sexual exploitation. As Baker begins his 17-year sentence, it serves as a reminder of the severe consequences for those who engage in such heinous crimes.

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