U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Christopher Crawford, age 40, of Waldorf, Maryland to 20 years in federal prison, followed by 25 years of supervised release, for production of child pornography. The sentence was imposed on January 15, 2020. Judge Grimm also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Crawford must continue to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to his guilty plea, on January 5, 2018, Crawford agreed to a search of his cellular phone as part of an investigation by the Prince George’s County Police Department, revealing videos and images of two minor female victims engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and documenting Crawford’s sexual abuse of the victims.
On February 15, 2018, search warrants were executed on Crawford’s residence and a vehicle. Law enforcement recovered electronic media and devices that contained files depicting the victims engaged in sex acts or simulated sex acts with Crawford, and other sexually explicit images.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the “Resources” tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph R. Baldwin and Jessica C. Collins, who prosecuted the federal case.
