BALTIMORE, MD – Michael John Bickel, a 26-year-old from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, will spend the next 35 years of his life behind bars after being sentenced for the horrific production of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander handed down the sentence on May 5, 2017, followed by a lifetime of supervised release – a small measure of justice for the unspeakable acts committed.
Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, Stephen M. Schenning, and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office, announced the sentence. The details revealed a disturbing pattern of abuse spanning from September 24, 2013, through January 1, 2015, within the District of Maryland. Bickel didn’t just cross state lines; he actively sought out vulnerable children to exploit.
According to the plea agreement, Bickel sexually abused and then documented those acts, creating images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. His depravity wasn’t limited to Maryland. After his arrest in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in March 2015, Bickel confessed to abusing at least three children in Pennsylvania *and* two minors he targeted during visits to Howard County, Maryland. This wasn’t a one-time lapse in judgment; it was a calculated, multi-state operation of abuse.
The Pennsylvania authorities were already on Bickel’s trail, prosecuting him for separate child sex offenses committed within their jurisdiction. He’s currently serving a state sentence of 59 to 118 years in SCI Dallas, Pennsylvania, with a minimum term of 59 years. This federal sentence will run concurrently, ensuring that Bickel faces significant consequences for all his victims, regardless of location. The fact he’s already facing decades in a Pennsylvania prison barely scratches the surface of the damage he’s caused.
This case was brought under the umbrella of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006 to combat the escalating epidemic of child sexual exploitation. Project Safe Childhood brings together federal, state, and local law enforcement to find, arrest, and prosecute predators like Bickel, and to rescue the children they’ve harmed. Information about the project can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
Acting U.S. Attorney Schenning lauded the FBI’s relentless work on the investigation, and specifically thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Cunningham for his diligent prosecution of the case. While no sentence can truly repair the harm inflicted upon these children, this conviction sends a clear message: those who prey on the innocent will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The Grimy Times will continue to follow this case and report on efforts to protect children from such predators.
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- Miller Gets 37 Years for Abusing Young Children · Washington
- Artavius Horne Gets 45 Years for Child Sex Trafficking · Washington
- MD Man Gets 10 Years For Online Child Exploitation · Maryland
- Robert Kelsey Gets 50 Years for Child Sex Abuse · Maryland
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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