Raymond Martin Shamer, III, age 21, of Pasadena, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to possession of child pornography. Shamer admitted that he also distributed child pornography.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore.
According to his guilty plea, from at least July 7, 2019, through June 24, 2020, Shamer used online accounts to communicate with others about child pornography, to distribute child pornography, and to collect child pornography. Many of the files Shamer collected documented adults sexually abusing of infants and toddlers while they are bound and subjected to other violent conduct.
Shamer admitted that he used a secure communication application to upload images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and that he shared links to those images with a group of users with whom he engaged in group chat conversations.
On June 24, 2020, a search warrant was executed at Shamer’s residence and investigators seized Shamer’s cell phones and computer. A subsequent forensic examination of the devices revealed a total of more than 1,000 images of child pornography on Shamer’s devices.
As detailed in his plea agreement, upon his release from prison, Shamer will be required 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”).
Shamer and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Shamer will be sentenced to at least three years in federal prison, followed by at least 20 years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander has scheduled sentencing for November 29, 2022, at 11:00 a.m.
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 Erek L. Barron commended HSI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who is prosecuting the case.
