Former Talbot County Man Sentenced to Over 28 Years in Federal Prison for Sexually Exploiting a Child to Produce Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III sentenced Patrick Shawn Sutphin, age 44, formerly of Easton, Maryland, today to 345 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, after Sutphin pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child to produce child pornography. Judge Russell also ordered that upon his release from prison Sutphin must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Judge Russell ordered that Sutphin’s federal sentence is to be served concurrently to the sentence imposed in a related case in the Circuit Court for Talbot County.

The guilty plea and sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Talbot County Sheriff Joseph Gamble; and Talbot County State’s Attorney Scott G. Patterson.

According to his plea agreement, between August and November 2015, Sutphin engaged in sexual acts with a 13 year old girl. Sutphin purchased gifts for the girl, including jewelry and clothing. At one point Sutphin transported the girl to Pennsylvania, where he also engaged in sexual acts with the victim. Sutphin communicated with the girl using text messages, video chat and social media applications. In some of his communications Sutphin discussed the sexual conduct he had engaged in with the victim, and the conduct he wished to engage in in the future. On a number of occasions, Suphin used his cellular phone to take sexually explicit pictures of the victim.

On November 3, 2015, Sutphin’s abuse of the victim was reported to law enforcement officers and the next day a search warrant was executed at Sutphin’s residence. Law enforcement seized Sutphin’s cellular phone and a subsequent search revealed many images of the victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

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 Attorneys' 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 Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore, Talbot County Sheriff’s Office, and the Talbot County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers, who prosecuted the federal case.