St. Mary’s County Prosecutors Pursue Child Pornography Case Against Clements Man

Leonard Michael Nelson Jr., 19, of Clements, is facing 10 charges in St. Mary’s County after prosecutors filed a criminal indictment in Circuit Court alleging he distributed, possessed, accessed and viewed child pornography, according to court records and charging documents. The indictment filed on March 9, 2026, lists two felony counts of child pornography promote/distribute, two misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography, and six misdemeanor counts of access and view child pornography.

The case began in District Court on February 10, 2026, when an arrest warrant was issued and later served the same day. Court records show Nelson was held without bond at his initial appearance on February 10, 2026, and remained held without bond after a bail review on February 11, 2026. The District Court case was later transferred to Circuit Court, where the case remains open. A bail and bond review was then held in Circuit Court on March 12, 2026.

According to the application for charges, Trooper First Class Kelsey Burnett of the Maryland State Police Child Exploitation Unit and Maryland Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force wrote that investigators first received National Center for Missing and Exploited Children cyber tips in February 2024 and later traced account activity back to Coles Adventure Lane in Clements. The application says legal process served on online accounts identified Nelson, that a search warrant was executed on May 7, 2024, and that investigators later reviewed a forensic extraction from an iPhone SE that allegedly contained hundreds of video and image files and additional media information described as child pornography. The charging document also states Nelson had previously been arrested on March 14, 2025, on distribution and possession charges tied to that earlier investigation.

The new application states that in December 2025 another cyber tip led investigators to a Google account and internet service information that, according to the document, again pointed back to the same Clements address. Burnett wrote that a search warrant return received on January 29, 2026, showed emails tied to multiple chat and file-sharing platforms and included messages and account information investigators said were linked to Nelson.

District Court charging records filed on February 10, 2026, listed two distribution counts, two possession counts and multiple access-and-view counts tied to October 18, 2025 at Coles Adventure Lane in Clements. The later Circuit Court indictment filed on March 9, 2026, lists 10 total counts. Court documents also indicate a minor victim designation in the Circuit Court file.

At his initial appearance, court paperwork shows Nelson waived an attorney for that hearing only, deferred election on a preliminary hearing, and was ordered held without bond. A commissioner wrote there was a reasonable likelihood he posed a danger to the safety of the alleged victim, other persons, or the community. Nelson was later found eligible for representation by the Office of the Public Defender, and the bail review summary filed February 11, 2026, shows a judge kept the no-bond status in place.

The case is now pending in the Circuit Court for St. Mary’s County.

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