A Silver Spring man pleaded guilty Monday to one count of possession of child pornography in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., according to federal law enforcement officials.
Joseph Ruben Baer, 20, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine during his sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept. 23, according to a statement Monday from the office of U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M. Graves. Baer also will be required to “pay mandatory restitution of at least $3,000 to any identified victim,” the statement said.
MoCo360 could not access federal courts records for the case Monday to find attorney information for Baer.
The charge against Baer stemmed from an investigation into his distribution of child pornography to an undercover law enforcement agent in April, according to the statement.
Baer was arrested May 10 in the District following an investigation by the FBI Washington Field Office and Metropolitan Police Department’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, the statement said.
According to the plea documents, the investigation began after an undercover member of the task force encountered Baer earlier this year while monitoring an online dating application that is “sometimes used by individuals who have a sexual interest in children,” the statement said.
“The undercover agent encountered Baer, who sent a message believing he was communicating with a pedophile,” the statement said. “Baer expressed an interest in child pornography and later sent the undercover agent two video files via an encrypted messaging application.”
After Baer’s arrest, investigators recovered “seven child pornography videos from Baer’s iPhone, which included the two video files he had earlier distributed to the undercover agent,” the statement said, noting the “videos depict the sexual abuse of infant and prepubescent children.”