U.S. District Judge Paul Xinis sentenced Jeffrey Darnell Alderson, age 34, of Waldorf, Maryland, to 42 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession of child pornography. Judge Xinis also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Alderson must 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 Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
According to Alderson’s guilty plea, a man was arrested in Philadelphia in January 2020, on charges relating to the advertisement and sale of child sexual abuse material. Alderson was identified as one of that individual’s customers through social media and financial records.
At that time, Alderson was a Mission Support Specialist with the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. Specifically, Alderson engaged in several conversations via messaging applications between September 2019 and January 2020 and ultimately purchased links to child sexual abuse material that documented the sexual abuse of minor boys, including prepubescent minors.
On October 2, 2020, law enforcement executed federal search warrant for the contents of multiple online accounts controlled by Alderson. A review of the information revealed communications with other users whose usernames indicated an interest in child sexual abuse material and searches and visits to websites related to child sexual abuse material.
On March 4, 2021, a search warrant for the contents of Alderson’s online storage account was executed and additional images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were discovered.
On May 13, 2021, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Alderson’s residence and seized his cell phone. A subsequent review of the contents of the phone included chats on various platforms about sexually explicit images and videos of children and/or obtaining additional child sexual abuse material. Links to additional images and videos documenting the sexual abuse of children were also found.
The child pornography that Alderson possessed included prepubescent minors and material portraying the sexual abuse of exploitation of an infant or toddler. In total, Alderson possessed over 100 videos and hundreds of images containing child pornography.
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 the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy F. Hagan, Jr. and Joel Crespo, who prosecuted the federal case.
