Anne Arundel County Police
PASADENA, Md. - A repeat sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court to more child sex abuse crimes.
What we know:
Patrick Daniel McKernan, 45, of Pasadena, Maryland, is charged with the sexual exploitation of a child as he persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced a minor victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland announced the guilty plea on Monday.
According to officials, McKernan produced explicit content involving the minor in November 2023.
They say he McKernan took sexually explicit images of the minor and distributed them on the internet.
The images were found on the dark web, operated by the Tor Network, in a group messaging app related to child sexual abuse material.
The background:
In 2016, McKernan was convicted of possession of child sexual abuse material in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Md.
McKernan faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years and a maximum sentence of 50 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox scheduled sentencing for Friday, May 22, at 3 p.m.