A 35-year prison sentence for a 27-year-old Calvert man charged with distribution of child pornography and sex abuse of a minor was handed down July 26 in the county’s circuit court.
According to the local state’s attorney’s office, Hunter Lee Kirby will be required to serve a minimum of 10 years of active incarceration. Once Kirby is released from prison he will be on supervised probation for five years and must register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.
Judge Andrew Rappaport sentenced Kirby, who was arrested last Aug. 17at the local grocery store where he worked after authorities executed a search and seizure warrant at his Prince Frederick home.
According to charging documents filed by Trooper Burnett of the Maryland State Police, five cyber tips were received last July by the Maryland Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Burnett stated in court papers that a “Synchronoss Technologies search warrant” was executed Aug. 7, 2023, and returned with 14 image files and 18 videos files “depicting child pornography as it’s defined by Maryland law.” The children seen in the images and videos appeared to range in age from 4 to 16, according to court documents.
The following day, a Verizon subpoena was returned to investigators identifying Kirby as the possessor and distributor of the images and videos.
Troopers assigned to the agency’s computer crimes unit and Prince Frederick barracks, along with Homeland Security personnel, executed the court-sanctioned warrant at Kirby’s home.
Burnett stated when officers contacted Kirby they seized his cellphone.
“He discussed he has had interactions with numerous underage children,” Burnett wrote in court papers, adding that Kirby “also stated he downloaded child pornography from numerous applications and saved them.”
“Further investigation revealed that Kirby had unlawfully touched a minor female,” a press release from the state’s attorney’s office stated.
Court records show Kirby pleaded guilty to three counts of promotion and distribution of child pornography and one count of sex abuse of a minor on Feb. 12.
Kirby was represented during the sentencing by public defenders Allison M. O’Connell and Autumn James.
The case was prosecuted by Rebecca Cordero of the Calvert state’s attorney’s office.
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