A jury convicted a 38-year-old Davidsonville man on seven counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, the Anne Arundel County Office of the State’s Attorney announced Friday.
An county circuit court judge ordered Christopher Willard Clendenin held without bond following the conviction Thursday. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 27.
In late February 2023, social media website Reddit submitted a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a user uploaded 22 files of suspected child sexual abuse material, according to police charging documents.
Then, in April 2023, the tip made it to the Anne Arundel County Police Department, saying that the suspected material was uploaded to Reddit from an IP address in Davidsonville, the state’s attorney’s office said.
In May, after a search warrant served to Reddit and Google, detectives found still and video images on Clendenin’s Google account, the state’s attorney’s office said.
Prosecutors said police searched his house on Aug. 24, 2023, and that he was at home. Clendenin said he recognized the Gmail account police were investigating, according to charging documents.
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State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said there’s a child victim “that has been exploited and deeply harmed” behind every offender who possesses child sexual abuse material.
“We will always stand with victims and ensure that those who prey on our young and vulnerable be held accountable in the court of law,” she said in a statement.
Two assistant state’s attorneys, Anastasia T. Prigge and Sean Fox, prosecuted the case.
Elizabeth Franzoso, the defense attorney listed in online court records for Clendenin, could not be reached for comment immediately Friday.
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