A Rockville man pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges last week after posing as a modeling agent and obtaining sexually explicit images through internet-based chat applications.
Stephen McGrath, 44, is charged with coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity in order to produce child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.
McGrath faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison for the enticement charge and a maximum of 10 years in prison for the possession charge. U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm set McGrath’s sentencing hearing for March 29.
Once out of prison, he will be required to register as a sex offender wherever he works and resides.
McGrath’s plea agreement states that between June 16 and Oct. 9 of 2017, he used the chat applications MeetMe and KIK to communicate with six minor females aged 12 to 16. Pretending to be a female modeling agent, McGrath obtained sexually explicit images from the victims as part of a “modeling evaluation.” He also admitted to distributing some of the images to two male friends of one of the victims, according to the press release.
Law enforcement traced the subscriber information from the chat accounts to an IP address assigned to McGrath, then executed a federal search warrant at his residence on Oct. 13, 2017, according to the press release. Officers seized McGrath’s phone and found a password-protected digital storage application that revealed folders containing pictures and videos constituting more than 600 images of child pornography.
Montgomery County police assisted Maryland State Police and Homeland Security Investigation-Baltimore with the investigation.
