Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Johnny William Kyte, age 62, of Elkton, Maryland to 20 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for production of child pornography.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Acting Special Agent in Charge Selwyn Smith of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; the Cecil County State’s Attorney James Dellmyer; and Chief Carolyn Rogers of the Elkton Police Department.
According to his guilty plea, on September 10, 2020, the Elkton Police Department responded to a complaint regarding images of child pornography located within Kyte’s residence and initiated an investigation into Kyte’s criminal conduct in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations.
After the execution of numerous search warrants, investigators discovered several digital devices controlled and owned by Kyte that contained images of child pornography. Investigators were able to identify and locate the minor victims who were depicted in the images. Subsequent investigation revealed that from August 2014 to July 2017, Kyte produced numerous sexually explicit images of two prepubescent females, including close-up images displaying the lewd and lascivious display of the minor victim’s genitals. Kyte used a variety of devices to produce the images including at least two digital cameras, a cell phone camera, and other devices.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the “Resources” tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the HSI, the Office of the State’s Attorney for Cecil County, and the Elkton Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Duey and Colleen McGuinn, who prosecuted the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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