Mark David Franklin, Attempted Possession of Child Pornography, Maryland 2018

Ellicott City, Maryland – Mark David Franklin, 44, of Ellicott City, Maryland, pleaded guilty to attempting to possess child pornography in a federal charge.

According to his guilty plea, between September 7 and October 10, 2018, Franklin used online applications to attempt to induce an individual he believed to be a 13-year-old girl to engage in sexually explicit activity and send Franklin photos of the sexual conduct. In fact, Franklin was communicating with an undercover FBI Special Agent.

As detailed in his plea agreement, Franklin engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the minor female, sent her sexually explicit photographs of himself, and requested that she send him sexually explicit photographs of herself. During their conversations, Franklin also discussed meeting in person to engage in sex acts and described the photographs he wished to take during their sexual encounter.

On October 10, 2018, Franklin traveled from Ellicott City to Frederick, Maryland, to meet and engage in sex acts with the 13-year-old girl. When Franklin arrived at the agreed-upon location, he was arrested. At the time of his arrest Franklin was in possession of a teddy bear requested by the 13-year-old girl, condoms, two blankets, and a towel.

Franklin faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has scheduled sentencing for December 17, 2019, at 10:15 a.m.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force for their work in the investigation and thanked the Frederick City Police Department for its assistance.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/ellicott-city-man-pleads-guilty-federal-charge-attempted-possession-child-pornography