Former Aide at P.G. Co. Elem. School Sentenced to 75 Years for Sexual Exploitation of 12 Minors

GREENBELT, Md. (August 21, 2017)—US District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Deonte Carraway, age 23, of Glenarden, Maryland, to 75 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for 15 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor to produce child pornography, involving 12 minor victims ranging in age from nine to 13 years old. According to court documents, Carraway was an assistant at Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School in Prince George's County.

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George's County Police Department; and Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks.

According to the 15-count superseding indictment, from October 11, 2015 through February 1, 2016, Carraway coerced and persuaded multiple children to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce videos of that conduct. According to the plea agreement, the videos produced include Carraway engaging in sexual activity with victims, as well as the victims engaging in sexually explicit conduct at Carraway's direction.

According to court documents, Carraway met several of the victims at the school where he worked, and other victims reported that Carraway recruited them from his choir group. Prince George's County Police arrested Carraway on February 4, 2016, and he has been detained since his arrest.

This case was investigated by the FBI Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force (MCETF), created in 2010 to combat sex crimes involving children. The task force consists of members from ten state and federal law enforcement agencies.

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 Attorneys' 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 Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, the Prince George's County Police Department, and the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristi N. O'Malley and Daniel C. Gardner who prosecuted the case.