John Steven Earman
Prince Frederick, MD – A grand jury has indicted a Calvert County man in a case involving the distribution of child pornography, court records stated. The two-count indictment of John Steven Earman, 64 of Huntingtown, was handed down in Calvert County Circuit Court Aug. 21. Earman is charged with promotion and distribution of child pornography, a felony; and possession of child pornography.
In an statement of charges on file in District Court, Detective Mike Mudd of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office indicated a criminal investigation of Earman began in late November of last year after the agency was received a cyber tip line report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Mudd’s investigation concluded in late June.
In the statement of charges, Mudd reported the submitter of the cyber tip was Microsoft Skydrive of Redmond, WA. “After review of the documents sent to this investigator by NCMEC it was determined that an unknown suspect associated to [email and Internet protocol (IP) addresses provided] uploaded five JPEG images of child pornography,” Mudd stated. The investigator describes the lurid details of three of the images that were sent from the suspect’s email address.
Mudd stated that he ran the IP address with the American Registry of Internet Numbers and was subsequently able to determine the address was located in Calvert County. Comcast Communications subsequently able to provide Mudd with information that identified Earman as the suspect.
According to a Circuit Court docket summary, Earman is being represented by attorney John Erly. Earman’s initial appearance in Circuit Court is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 11.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com