WASHINGTON – A former Anne Arundel County high school teacher was sentenced to 15 months in jail Tuesday after pleading guilty to receiving child pornography over the Internet.
Bruce Edward McDade, 48, of Greenbelt, has 45 days to surrender to authorities to begin his jail term. There is no possibility of parole, said U.S. attorney Lynne A. Battaglia of Maryland.
Authorities said they found at least 10 sexually explicit images of children when they searched McDade’s home last April 18. He was then an Arundel High School drama teacher.
Prosecutors said he had sent and received explicit computer images of children between Jan. 9, 1996, and Feb. 18, 1996.
He pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Alexander Williams Jr., on Dec. 11, 1996. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss 13 other counts of receiving and distributing depictions of minors engaged in sex acts.
Battaglia said she was pleased with the sentence handed down by Williams.
“We decided that we would act very aggressively in this case,” Battaglia said. “These offenders are a real menace to anyone who has children.”
McDade’s attorney, Brooke Murdock, did not return repeated phone calls.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Wilkinson, who prosecuted the case, McDade began an on-line conversation in January 1996 with a confidential police informant. McDade was a subscriber to America On-Line.
McDade later sent the informant an on-line picture of a minor engaged in a sex act, Wilkinson said.
“I have a computer at home. I’m on AOL,” Battaglia said. “I don’t want anyone to have access to [these types of pictures].” The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Customs Service. -30-