Previously Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced to 24 Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

Defendant Also Admitted Attempting to Produce Child Pornography by Reaching Under a Shower Stall in the Locker Room of a Public Pool to Photograph a Young Boy

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III today sentenced Gary Keith Pinkowski, Jr., age 33, of Catonsville, Maryland, to 24 years in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for possession of child pornography, which he obtained using public computers at a library. Pinkowski has prior sex offense convictions in Maryland and Delaware.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Acting Special Agent in Charge Cardell T. Morant of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief Terrence B. Sheridan of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

According to his plea agreement and other court documents, on October 22, 2017, Pinkowski attempted to produce two images of child pornography.  Specifically, Pinkowski went swimming at a recreational facility in Baltimore County.  Instead of using the locker room specifically designated for adult males, Pinkowski brought a digital camera into a shower stall in the “Boys” locker room, and waited for 30 minutes until a child, whom the defendant thought was between five and seven years old, entered the shower stall next to him.

Despite knowing that the child was accompanied by his father, Pinkowski admitted that he reached under a partition between the shower stalls and took two photographs of the six-year-old boy, who was showering in that stall.  The boy reported Pinkowski’s conduct to his father, who notified the facility.  Although he had not seen the person in the stall next to the boy, the father noticed a pair of black and green plaid swim trunks hanging over the shower stall.  Pinkowski had already left the facility on his bicycle, but staff members recognized the description of the swim trunks as belonging to Pinkowski and provided his description and contact information to Baltimore County Police officers.

Officers found Pinkowski near the men’s shelter where he lived and recovered a digital camera containing an SD memory card, a second SD memory card, and multiple USB drives.  One of the SD cards contained photos of the boy, who was showering in his swim trunks, as well as child pornography.  Pinkowski admitted that he used one of the USB drives to access child pornography using the public computers at a library.  The USB drive contained a file that ran software that permits anonymous communication on the Internet.  Because the library computer would not permit downloads, Pinkowski used his digital camera to take videos and pictures of the computer screen. 

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 Robert K. Hur commended the FBI, HSI-Baltimore, the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in this investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey J. Izant and Sandra Wilkinson, who prosecuted the case.