Patrick Daniel McKernan, 45, of Pasadena, Maryland, is charged with the sexual exploitation of a child as he persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced a minor victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, FBI – Baltimore Field Office, and Chief Amal E. Awad, Anne Arundel County Police (AACOPD).
According to the guilty plea, McKernan exploited the minor child for the purpose of producing visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct.
In November 2023, McKernan produced sexually explicit images of the minor and distributed them on the internet. The images were found on the dark web, operated by the Tor Network, in a group messaging app related to child sexual abuse material. In 2016, McKernan was convicted of possession of child sexual abuse material in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
McKernan faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years and a maximum sentence of 50 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox scheduled sentencing for Friday, May 22, at 3 p.m.
This case is 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 justice.gov/psc.
For more information about Internet safety education, please visit justice.gov/psc and click on the “Resources” tab on the left of the page.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI and AACOPD for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Elizabeth McGuinn who is prosecuting the federal case.
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach
