Child pornography on the rise in Maryland

Child pornography cases are on the rise in Maryland, in part, because there is an increase in user-generated images. 

"We're seeing an increase in the reporting of the self-generated child exploitive material, what we used to call "child pornography," because children are taking more images," says Joseph Dugan, an internet safety specialist with the Maryland State Police. "We're seeing more cyber tips because of that," Dugan said. "We're seeing more enforcement because of that."

William Gomes, a 41-year-old University of Maryland employee, was arrested by Prince George's County Police on Friday and is facing 14 counts of child pornography. Gomes' arrest comes just 1 week after a Maryland former high school and youth football coach pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges. This also comes 1 month after the arrest of former College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn was arrested for similar charges.

Online enticement reports, including sexploitation, nearly doubled from 2019 to 2020 according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Investigators in Prince George's County have already received over 400 cyber tips this year and have seen an uptick year-over-year since 2019.

Prince George's County Police Lieutenant Michael Snyder is also seeing an uptick in self-generated exploitive material. "We see instances where prepubescent children are creating a video and exploring their bodies and taking video, but what they're doing now is they're uploading it to YouTube. They putting it on TikTok," Snyder said.

The average age that a child gets their first device is about 10 years old. According to Joseph Dugan, Maryland State Police Internet Safety Expert, the average age of exposure to pornography is 11 years of age - and by age 14, about 94% of children have been exposed to online pornography. He thinks that's why user-generated exploitative material is increasing. 

"So now it starts becoming normal…When they are in middle school, and they have that first relationship, and they are asked for that first image, there is a hurdle to get over - but it's not as hard of a hurdle to get over as it used to be" says Dugan.

Maryland State Police and Dugan offer free online safety training for children and parents. You can schedule a training session by emailing Dugan at joseph.dugan@maryland.gov.