Owings man arrested, charged with distributing child porn

Released on bond

Friday, July 30, 2010

An Owings man was arrested for distribution of child pornography after numerous files containing child pornography videos and images were allegedly posted on a peer-to-peer networking website from his laptop computer.

Paul C. Stanley, 20, of Owings was arrested on Tuesday after an investigation led Maryland State Police Prince Frederick troopers to his Owings residence from the Internet protocol (IP) address used to upload the files.

The trooper who initiated the undercover operation into the distribution of child pornography on the Gnutella peer-to-peer network located 76 files "that had naming conventions of child pornography." The trooper downloaded 24 videos and image files from the IP address listed from Stanley's mother's residence, where he lived, and "all 24 images and videos depict child pornography as defined by the Maryland criminal law article."

Four of the movies with sexually explicit titles showed sexual acts involving both very young boys and prepubescent girls and were downloaded by police, according to charging documents.

When police went to the Owings residence, they were told that Stanley was staying at a friend's house in Chesapeake Beach and he had taken his laptop with him. Police contacted Stanley at the friend's house where Stanley told police he gave his laptop to a friend six months ago, however the owner of the residence said that she saw him with a laptop the day before.

After obtaining a search warrant, police allegedly found Stanley's laptop in a downstairs bedroom hidden under a dresser with the screen smashed and an unknown liquid poured on top of it.

Stanley, who was released on bond on July 27, has been charged with four counts of distribution of child pornography, false statement to a police officer and obstruction and hindering, court records state.

charvat@somdnews.com