Marcus Street, Child Pornography, Maryland 2021

Baltimore Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Charge for Production of Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland – Marcus Street, 26, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to enticing and persuading a minor victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce child pornography, which Street admitted he also distributed.

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Baltimore City’s State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby; Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department (BPD); and Baltimore County Sheriff Jay Fisher.

According to Street’s guilty plea, in December 2019, HSI and BPD investigators conducted a forensic review of the of a 14-year-old victim’s cell phone. The review revealed six 15-second videos of the victim engaged in sexual acts with an adult man. In some of the videos, a distinctive tattoo on the man’s left forearm is visible. Further investigation identified Street as the man depicted in each of the videos.

Law enforcement interviewed Street on December 10, 2019, concerning his interaction with the victim. Street initially claimed that he did not engage in sexual acts with the minor victim. When law enforcement confronted Street with the video of him engaging in sex acts with a minor, Street stated “oh yeah, I did one time, I ain’t gonna lie I did”. Street also told law enforcement that he recorded the video. Following the interview, law enforcement obtained an arrest warrant and Street was arrested on January 6, 2020. After his arrest, Street was again questioned by law enforcement and admitted to engaging in sexually explicit conduct with the victim, stating, “That was it, that was the last time I did anything with this girl”.

Investigators subsequently executed search warrants on Street’s cell phone, social media account, and on the victim’s social media account. Review of Street’s cell phone revealed two minutes-long videos of him engaging in sex acts with the victim. A review of Street’s and the victim’s social media accounts showed that Street had sent shortened versions of those videos, 15 seconds in length, to the victim using social media.

Street faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison for production of child pornography. U.S. District Judge George L. Russell has scheduled sentencing for August 19, 2021 at 12:30 a.m.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/baltimore-man-pleads-guilty-federal-charge-production-child-pornography