A sergeant with the Baltimore Police Department pleaded guilty to federal charges of possession of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced today.
According to the plea, Sgt. James Robert Wissmann IV started using fake email addresses and names in 2017 to log onto an app, where he could join rooms to message and send media files and discuss “child exploitation,” federal prosecutors said.
The app kicked Wissmann, 35, off the platform and reported his activity to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), but he would use fake email addresses and names to create new accounts.
In 2018 and 2019, Wissmann created at least seven separate accounts after being banned from the app, federal prosecutors said. On Oct. 11, 2018, the app sent five reports to the NCMEC on Wissmann’s activity, all containing photos of naked prepubescent girls.
Investigators searched Wissmann’s Baltimore home on July 31, 2019 and seized a laptop, three mobile phones, a tablet and a flash drive, according to court records. Federal prosecutors said the department suspended Wissmann following the search.
According to the plea agreement, Wissmann bought a virtual private network and Tor software, regularly deleted and reinstalled apps, and routinely cleared files off his computer in an effort to conceal his identity.
If his guilty plea is accepted, Wissmann will be sentenced to four years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. He will also have to register as a sex offender.
Sentencing is scheduled in U.S. District Court on Oct. 15 at 10 a.m.
According to city salary records, Wissmann has been with the BPD since 2008 and was promoted to sergeant in fiscal year 2017. Last year he made just over $100,000.
