BALTIMORE — A Baltimore City Police officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of child pornography.
James Robert Wissmann, IV, 35, of Baltimore, was suspended of his police powers in July 2019.
According to his guilty plea, Wissmann created accounts using fake names and fake email addresses on an app that allows users to join a “room” where they can message, video chat, view videos and images, share files, and use those accounts to distribute and receive files of child pornography.
The app monitored the activity on its platform and identified Wissmann’s accounts as sharing contraband files. The app shut down Wissmann’s accounts, and subsequently submitted reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Each time Wissmann’s accounts were shut down, he created a new account, using fake names and email addresses, and continued to share child pornography and discuss child exploitation.
In 2018 and 2019, Wissmann created at least seven separate accounts on the application after being banned based on trafficking in child pornography.
On July 31, 2019, investigators executed a search warrant at Wissmann’s residence and seized a laptop, removable digital media and mobile phones, which he used to commit the offense.
During a forensic examination of the seized items, investigators found images and videos of child pornography, including images depicting prepubescent minors engaging in sexual conduct.
Wissmann and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Wissmann will be sentenced to at least four years in federal prison, followed by at least 10 years of supervised release.
U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III has scheduled sentencing for October 15, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.
