A federal grand jury returned an indictment on March 5, 2024, charging Verena May Mathis, age 24, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, for sexual exploitation of a child and for child sex trafficking.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) Baltimore; Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland State Police (“MSP”); Chief Gregory Der of the Howard County Police Department; and Commissioner Richard Worley of the Baltimore Police Department.
According to the two-count indictment, on approximately December 5, 2020, Mathis produced sexually explicit images of a minor victim and used the minor victim to engage in a commercial sex act, in reckless disregard of the fact that the victim was less than 14 years of age.
As detailed in court documents, the case arose when a video depicting the minor victim and an adult woman, subsequently identified as Mathis, were found during a search of the online accounts of Edward Golden, a defendant in a separate child exploitation case.
If convicted, Mathis faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for sexual exploitation of a child and a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to life in federal prison for child sex trafficking.
Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The defendant is expected to have an initial appearance on this indictment in U.S. District Court in Baltimore at a later date. She was previously charged by criminal complaint and has been detained since her arrest on February 15, 2024.
Eugene Edward Golden, age 38, of Baltimore, is charged in a 160-count second superseding indictment with conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child, sexual exploitation of children, child sex trafficking, and receipt and possession of child pornography.
The superseding indictment alleges that Golden communicated with women to arrange for the creation of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. If convicted, Golden faces up to life in federal prison. Golden is detained.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
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, the MSP-led Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Howard County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Elizabeth McGuinn, who is prosecuting the federal case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
