Thomas Michael Mannion Jr., Child Pornography, Maryland 2019

Baltimore, Maryland, May 6, 2019 - A former Baltimore County Correctional Officer has been found guilty of producing child pornography, according to a recent plea deal.

Thomas Michael Mannion Jr., 46, a resident of Parkville, Maryland, pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography in federal court. He admitted to engaging in sexually explicit conduct with two minor victims.

The guilty plea was announced by Robert K. Hur, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, and other law enforcement officials. According to his guilty plea, Mannion rented a basement apartment in Parkville, where he lived alone and engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a 13-year-old minor victim. Mannion had met the victim on a social networking application a few months prior to the incident.

Mannion took photos and videos of the minor victim during the sexual encounter and distributed the images to others. A forensic analysis of Mannion's cellphone revealed 21 images and two videos depicting the minor victim engaged in sexually explicit activity. Mannion also communicated with a 14-year-old male minor victim through the social networking application and engaged in sexual activity with him.

Mannion faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison for each of the two counts of production of child pornography, followed by up to lifetime supervised release. U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher has scheduled sentencing for June 16, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of 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.

According to the plea agreement, Mannion attempted to meet with several other minors with whom he communicated on the social networking application, even after the minors advised Mannion of their ages. Mannion also discussed his sexual interest in other children that he knew or had contact with during sexually explicit chats with users of the application. In addition, a review of Mannion's laptop computer revealed multiple images of child pornography.

The 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. 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.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/former-baltimore-county-correctional-officer-pleads-guilty-federal-court-two-counts