Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Sexually Exploiting Child to Produce CSAM

Baltimore, Maryland — Mark Travis Brigham, 36, of Mount Airy, pleaded guilty June 1 in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to sexually exploiting a minor to produce child sexual abuse material and to possessing CSAM.

The charges involve Brigham’s direct sexual exploitation of at least one child victim for the purpose of creating new CSAM images and videos, plus his separate possession of a collection of such material. Under federal law, sexual exploitation of a child carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison. The possession count carries up to 10 years.

The plea agreement, filed in Baltimore federal court, requires Brigham to register as a sex offender for life upon release. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

The case was brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland as part of its ongoing prosecution of hands-on child sex abuse and CSAM production offenses. Federal investigators recovered both the newly produced material tied to the identified victim and additional CSAM in Brigham’s possession.

This marks the latest federal conviction in Maryland involving the dual offenses of live sexual exploitation and CSAM possession. The Department of Justice has pursued such combined charges with increasing frequency in the past three years as forensic tools allow quicker identification of both victims and producers from digital evidence.

Congress set the current mandatory minimums in the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act and strengthened CSAM possession penalties in the 2008 PROTECT Our Children Act. Those statutes remain the operative framework for sentencing in this case.