Middle River Man Gets 60 Years in Child Porn Case

U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson sentenced John Fred Nicklas IV, 35, of Middle River, Tuesday to 60 years in prison, followed by supervised release for life, on two counts of sexually exploiting minors to produce child pornography.

According to a release from U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, Nickerson also ordered that upon his release from prison, Nicklas will be required to register as a sex offender. Nicklas’ fianceé, Shannon Leigh Honea, 27, also of Middle River, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the same charges.

The sentence and guilty plea were announced by  Rosenstein, Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

Rosenstein's office issued a news release stating the following: "According to Nicklas and Honea’s plea agreements, Baltimore County police detectives operating in an undercover capacity received videos and images of child pornography from a computer located at the residence shared by Nicklas and Honea. A search warrant was executed at their home on July 30, 2009, and more than 600 images of child pornography involving prepubescent children and sadomasochistic conduct were seized."

"A joint investigation by Baltimore County Police and the FBI revealed that between at least Feb. 15, 2009, and July 30, 2009, Nicklas and Honea arranged to obtain videos depicting the sexual abuse of children and to sexually abuse children in order to make their own videos. Nicklas and Honea had minor females present at their residence in Middle River," the release states.

"They arranged for the  minor females to change clothes in rooms arranged to visually record the minors changing their clothes in order to produce child pornography, and arranged to have minor females spend the evening at the house so that John Nicklas could sexually abuse the children to produce child pornography," according to the release.

"Nicklas and Honea traveled to other states to obtain minors in order to sexually abuse them and produce child pornography. They kept the images depicting the sexual abuse at their residence. Nicklas also sent a letter to Honea explaining how he wanted to have daughters with her so he could sexually molest the children, describing in detail the sexually explicit activities he would engage in with the children, starting when they were a year old," states the release.

"Some of child pornography seized from their home included at least six videos created by Nicklas and Honea depicting him sexually abusing a baby girl and a minor female, and recording three minor females as they changed clothes," according to the release.

As part of her plea agreement, Honea and the government have agreed that if the court accepts the plea agreement Honea will be sentenced to between 30 to 35 years in prison, followed by supervised release for life. U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson scheduled sentencing for June 8. As a result of her guilty plea, Honea will also be required to register as a sex offender. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.