Berlin Man Sentenced to 36 Years in Federal Prison for Production of Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced David Edward Weatherholtz, age 57, of Berlin, Maryland today to 36 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for production of child pornography. Judge Hollander also ordered that Weatherholtz pay a total of $105,471.12 in restitution to the victims and ordered that Weatherholtz forfeit certain property, including his interest in the commercial real estate property located at 12600 Marjan Lane, Ocean City, MD 21842.

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Worcester County Sheriff Reggie T. Mason, Sr.; Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby; and Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.

According to his plea agreement, from at least August 1990 through his arrest in 2015, Weatherholtz had sexual contact and/or sexual intercourse with at least four minors.

On December 3, 2014, an undercover detective with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office responded to a sexually explicit ad placed on an internet website. Records obtained from the website identified Weatherholtz as the person who posted the advertisement and further indicated that the ad was one of many posted by Weatherholtz from 2009 to December 2014 for the purpose of meeting young males interested in sex.

Weatherholtz and the undercover detective exchanged emails and text messages, in which the detective identified himself as a 13-year-old deaf white male who lived with his aunt in Snow Hill. Weatherholtz sent the detective two video files by text messages. In the first video file Weatherholtz depicted himself greeting the purported 13-year-old deaf male, and in the second video file he pretended to be the 13-year-old deaf male greeting Weatherholtz.

Weatherholtz arranged to meet the purported 13-year-old male at a restaurant in Snow Hill on December 16, 2014, and indicated that he would bring the boy back to his residence. When Weatherholtz arrived at the meeting location, he was taken into custody. A search warrant was also executed at his home and law enforcement seized numerous computers, hard drives, and other media storage devices. Subsequent forensic analysis of those items recovered numerous still photographs and a video of Weatherholtz engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a minor male victim.

On August 17, 2016, an employee at a building formerly owned by Weatherholtz found a box on the property that was addressed to “Aaron Weatherholtz” – the defendant’s dog. Inside the box were photos of minor males engaged in sex acts; sheets of paper called “official progress charts” that depicted dated, hand-traced outlines of erect male penises; CDs and DVDs; and two VHS-compatible camcorder cassette tapes. A review of that material revealed three other minor male victims engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended HSI Baltimore, Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office, Maryland State Police, and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ayn B. Ducao and Paul A. Riley, who prosecuted the case.