District of Maryland | Pasadena man pleads guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor and commission of a felony involving a minor by a registered sex offender

BaltimoreMaryland – Gary Hammond Jackson III, age 32, of Pasadena, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to federal charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and commission of a felony involving a minor by a registered sex offender.

The guilty verdict was entered by Erek L. Barron, District Attorney for the District of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) Baltimore Field Office; Roland L. Butler, Jr. Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Anne Colt Leitess of the Anne Arundel County District Attorney’s Office.

According to his guilty plea, Jackson sexually abused and photographed two minor girls, then aged 6 and 3, in 2020 and 2022. Specifically, in November 2020, Jackson sexually abused the first victim, then aged 6, and used his cell phone to take three photographs of the abuse. In addition to the sexual exploitation that occurred in November 2020, Jackson sexually abused the victim on multiple occasions between January 2020 and December 2020. Based on that separate conduct, Jackson was convicted of a fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, District Court. After his release, Jackson was required to register as a sex offender.

After being required to register as a sex offender, Jackson used his cell phone in November 2022 to take 13 images of a second victim’s genitals when the victim was 3 years old. In November 2022, investigators searched Jackson’s home and found multiple digital devices, which contained more than 1,500 files of child pornography.

Jackson faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for sexual exploitation of a minor and a mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison for commission of a crime involving a minor by a registered sex offender. Actual sentences for federal crimes are generally less than the maximum sentences.

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 investigate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc. For information about Internet safety education, visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the “Resources” tab on the left side of the page.

U.S. Attorney Barron commended the FBI, the Maryland State Police and the Anne Arundel County District Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Spencer L. Todd and Paul E. Budlow, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information about the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, its priorities, and the resources available to assist the community, visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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