Marcus Jerome Hunt, 32, of Temple Hills, Maryland, has pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of transporting child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Hunt is a previously registered sex offender.
According to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Kelly O. Hayes, law enforcement began investigating after receiving CyberTips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in December 2020. The tips originated from Dropbox, which reported that three CSAM video files were uploaded on November 1, 2020, using an account linked to Hunt’s name and email address. The associated Google account was deleted before authorities received the tips, and Dropbox subsequently disabled the account.
A search warrant for the Dropbox account revealed 40 videos; approximately half contained CSAM. Investigators traced the IP address used with the Dropbox account to Hunt’s residence in Temple Hills.
On January 21, 2021, police executed search warrants at Hunt’s home and seized several electronic devices. Among them were a Samsung cell phone found in factory reset status, an iPhone, two tablets, two USB drives (one reformatted), two SD cards, and a gaming PC with a shortcut to The Onion Router network (Tor) browser. Keyword searches for “Dropbox” and the relevant email address found digital artifacts on both an iPhone and one tablet device.
During questioning by law enforcement officers, Hunt admitted having a Dropbox account but denied knowledge of the email address tied to it.
Hunt faces up to five years in federal prison on each count. Sentencing is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman on April 29 at 10 a.m.
U.S. Attorney Hayes acknowledged Homeland Security Investigations and Maryland State Police for their roles in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan S. McKoy and Joel Crespo for prosecuting the case.
The case falls under Project Safe Childhood, a national Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006 that coordinates federal, state, and local efforts against child exploitation crimes online. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at https://www.justice.gov/psc . For Internet safety resources visit https://www.justice.gov/psc/resources .
Additionally, Know2Protect is a national public awareness campaign led by the Department of Homeland Security focused on educating families about preventing online child exploitation and abuse; more details are available at https://www.dhs.gov/know2protect .
For further information about community resources or priorities from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md or https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach .