Dennis Telak, Jr., 32 of Stevensville, Maryland, entered an Alford Plea to two counts of possession of child pornography on September 13, 2016 in the Queen Anne’s County Circuit Court.

This matter stemmed from an online investigation initiated by the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation.  The investigation centered around an online peer to peer file sharing network which allows computer users the ability to choose to install publicly available software that facilitates the trading of images.  The investigation revealed the sharing of certain images and videos of child pornography associated with an IP Address associated with the residence that Mr. Telak was residing with his girlfriend and her minor child.  A search and seizure warrant was obtained for the residence and executed by members of the Maryland State Police, Worcester County Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Crimes Against Children Task Force.  Mr. Telak was interviewed and admitted to downloading images and videos of child pornography because he was “curious”.  Three computers were seized and subsequently analyzed.  The forensic analysis on the computers found a total of 1,876 files of child pornography.  A majority of the images and videos consisted of females, very young in age, being sexually abused by adult males.

Telak was sentenced to 5 years of incarceration for each count and all but 270 days was suspended.  Following Mr. Telak’s release from the Queen Anne’s County Detention Center he will be placed on 5 years of supervised probation under the sex offender management program, subject to computer monitoring and required to register as a sex offender for 15 years.

Mr. Telak’s attorney from the Office of the Public Defender argued for a sentence of probation stating that this was a victimless crime and strictly one of possession of illegal material.  Deputy State’s Attorney Christine Dulla Rickard argued that child pornography possession is a serious crime in which the children captured in the files are victimized initially by their abuser on film and then re-victimized every time the images are viewed.  Mrs. Rickard also argued that each person viewing such material on the internet perpetuates the ongoing sexual victimization of children.