A Chevy Chase man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to federal child pornography charges stemming from incidents in which he recorded hundreds of videos of children undressing in his home’s bathroom.
Jonathan Oldale faces up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges in federal court in Greenbelt. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis scheduled Oldale’s sentencing hearing for April 1, according to a press release from the District of Maryland’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Oldale was arrested in October 2017 after leaving a backpack containing a recording camera in the bathroom of Silver Star Gymnastics and Fitness Club in Silver Spring earlier that year, according to police. No videos were recovered from the fitness center, according to police, but a search of 55-year-old Oldale’s home revealed more than 1,000 videos filmed in the bathroom of his home depicting at least 30 children taking off their clothes or bathing suits, taking showers and getting dressed. The videos also showed Oldale checking camera angles prior to children entering the bathroom.
Police seized three “spy cameras,” six camera and phone memory cards and six USB drives, which all contained videos from Oldale’s bathroom cameras.
On the USB drives, Oldale had created a filing system that had subfolders named for the month and within those folders were additional subfolders that listed children’s names followed by a description of the bathing suit each wore.
The search unveiled two of Oldale’s three laptops had “installations of browsers used to access the ‘dark web,’ ” and accessed files had titles consistent with child pornography.
The dark web is a part of the internet that requires specific software to access, allowing users to remain anonymous, according to a press release.
Oldale, a well-known parent in his Chevy Chase community, invited children to “splash parties” at his home, during which they would become covered with grass while playing on an inflatable structure in the yard, according to prosecutors. Oldale then encouraged the children to change clothes or take showers in his bathroom before going home.
As part of a plea agreement, Oldale will be sentenced to between 15 and 25 years in prison. Additionally, he must register as a sex offender and “has agreed to the entry of a $400,000 money judgment in lieu of forfeiture of Oldale’s interest in his residence,” which was used to facilitate the crimes, the press release says.
