Waldorf Man Sentenced to 16+ Years in Fed. Prison for Illegal Poss. of Unregistered Machine Guns, Unreg. Short-Barreled Rifles, Destructive Devices, Possession of Child Porn

GREENBELT, Md. (July 25, 2018)—U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm today sentenced Caleb Andrew Bailey, age 31, of Waldorf, Maryland, to 200 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for illegal possession of unregistered machine guns, unregistered short-barreled rifles, and unregistered destructive devices, and for possession of child pornography. Judge Grimm also ordered that Bailey must 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 sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Rob Cekada of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Acting Special Agent in Charge Cardell T. Morant of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Postal Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service—Washington Division; and Charles County Sheriff Troy Berry.

According to Bailey's plea agreement, on May 5, 2016, law enforcement executed federal search warrants at adjoining properties in Waldorf, Maryland associated with Bailey. At Bailey's residence, law enforcement located, among other items, an underground bunker containing machine guns, machine gun manufacturing parts and devices, other firearms, explosives, unregistered short-barreled rifles and destructive devices; covert recording devices; and child pornography on electronic devices seized inside and outside the residence. One electronic device was located within the underground bunker. Other electronic media were removed from Bailey's bedroom at his residence, and from the woods where they had been hidden by a minor victim at the direction of Bailey. At his parents' residence, in Bailey's bedroom, law enforcement recovered an electronic device that contained Internet searches indicative of child pornography.

During the execution of the search warrant at Bailey's residence on May 5, 2016, a 17-year-old minor was present. The minor admitted that Bailey had instructed the minor to remove a laptop, a camera, and an external hard drive from Bailey's residence and cover them with leaves by a footbridge in the woods behind the residence. Law enforcement recovered these items.

On May 17, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations conducted a forensic analysis of Bailey's electronic devices. The forensic analysis revealed that Bailey used hidden cameras to surreptitiously record videos of minor males. In total, Bailey recorded over 100 videos of the victims between March 2014 and January 2016. The forensic analysis revealed that, in addition to the child pornography that Bailey produced, Bailey possessed other images and videos of child pornography on various electronic devices, including a hard drive located within his bunker, that do not appear to have been produced by him. These images and videos included depictions of prepubescent minors and depictions of sadistic or masochistic conduct involving minors (bondage). Bailey's collection of child pornography included more than 280 images and 54 videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department's renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney's Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

This case was also 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.

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended ATF Baltimore, HSI Baltimore, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service—Washington Division, and the Charles County Sheriff's Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer R. Sykes, Kristi N. O'Malley, and Thomas P. Windom, who prosecuted the case.