Silver Spring Sex Offender Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

 Violated His Supervised Release on Previous Federal Conviction for Distribution and Possession of Child Pornography Less than Six Weeks After His Release from Prison

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced John Michael Raley, age 51, of Silver Spring, Maryland to 10 years in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography.  Raley was ordered to pay $9,000 in restitution.  Judge Xinis also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Raley must continue to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). 

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner and Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to his guilty plea, in 2012 Raley was convicted in U.S. District Court in Maryland of one count each of distribution and possession of child pornography.  Raley was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.  Raley was released from the custody of the Bureau of Prisons on February 15, 2019.

On March 27, 2019, during the administration of a court-ordered polygraph, Raley admitted that after he was released from the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, he obtained his personal effects from another individual to whom he had entrusted the effects during his imprisonment.  Raley admitted that among the effects was a secure digital memory card (SD card).  Raley had purchased an SD card adapter to plug into his television in order to allow him to view the contents of the SD card on the television at his home in Maryland.  Raley admitted that the SD card contained images and videos of child pornography, which Raley had viewed three to four times since his release from prison. 

Raley then spoke with his U.S. Probation Officer by telephone in the presence of the polygraph examiner and admitted the same conduct.  The Officer advised Raley to go to his home, where the Probation officer met him and confiscated the SD card.  A federal search warrant was obtained for the card and a forensic examination was performed by an FBI examiner.  The memory card contained thousands of images of child pornography, including boys under the age of 12 and depictions of sadistic conduct and violence. 

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.         

Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the FBI for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy F. Hagan, Jr. who prosecuted the federal case.