Middle River Woman Gets 30 Years in Child Porn Case

A 28-year-old Middle River woman was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison and must register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to two counts of sexually exploiting minors to produce child pornography. 

U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson handed down the sentence to Shannon Leigh Honea as part of her plea agreement with federal prosecutors for her role in helping her fiancé, , create child pornography videos in which he sexually molests a baby and a minor female.

"Nothing that we say can really convey the horror of this case," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein in a statement. "Among the many shocking cases involving child pornography, the ones involving defendants who scheme with other people to abuse young children and record their crimes are the most horrifying."

According to Honea’s plea agreement, undercover Baltimore County police detectives received videos and images of child pornography from a computer located at the residence Honea shared with Nicklas. 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 and July 30, 2009, Honea and Nicklas obtained videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, and sexually abused children in order to make their own videos. 

According to a news release, Honea and Nicklas visually recorded minor females changing clothes in their residence in order to produce child pornography, and arranged to have minor females spend the evening so that Nicklas could sexually abuse the children to produce child pornography.

Nicklas and Honea also 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.  

In addition, Nicklas sent a letter to Honea explaining how he wanted to have daughters with her so that he could sexually molest the children. He also described in detail the sexually explicit activities that he would engage in with the children, starting when they were a year old.

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

Honea's sentence comes after Nickerson on March 22 sentenced Nicklas IV, 36, of Middle River, to 60 years in prison followed by supervised release for life for two counts of sexually exploiting minors to produce child pornography.

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