A federal jury yesterday convicted Brian Patrick Werth, age 39, of Beltsville, Maryland, for two counts of production of child pornography and for coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. Werth was also convicted of committing a crime involving a minor by a registered sex offender.
The guilty verdict 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; and Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.
According to the evidence presented at his three-day trial, between January and June 2021, Werth persuaded, enticed, and coerced two minor female victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce visual depictions of such conduct and to transmit the images to Werth using the internet-based applications. Werth communicated with the victims over an internet-based chat application.
As detailed in testimony at trial, Werth enticed and persuaded a 14-year-old female victim through various means, including, for example, sending her pictures of other apparent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, flattering her, and sending her cash card codes for the purchase of lingerie and “school girl” outfits that the 14-year-old female had identified in texts to Werth. Werth also enticed and persuaded a separate 15-year-old female victim to produce child pornography for him and transmit it to him via internet-based applications.
Trial evidence proved that during that same time frame, Werth also communicated with a third 11-year-old female victim. The conversations were sexual in nature with Werth asking directly for nude pictures of the 11-year-old victim.
Werth faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in federal prison and a maximum of 50 years in federal prison for production of child pornography due to his prior conviction, to be followed by a 10 year mandatory consecutive sentence for commission of a new offense involving a minor while being required to register as a sex offender. Werth also faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison and up to life in prison for coercion and enticement of a minor.
Upon his release from prison Werth will be required to 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. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for July 23, 2024 at 9:30 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 and the Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys LaShanta Harris and Adam K. Ake, who are prosecuting the 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.
