BALTIMORE, Md.—
A federal judge Friday sentenced a former Hagerstown man to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing a child to produce child pornography.U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett also ordered Thomas Leroy Griffin Jr., 32, to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life wherever he resides, is employed or is a student following his release.
The sentence was announced by Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
Griffin, who originally faced state charges in Washington County, pleaded guilty to the child abuse charge in federal court in November, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Griffin was first charged with second-degree rape and other offenses in November 2010 for sexually abusing a girl between 2003 and 2010, according to court records. He was later indicted by a Washington County grand jury with engaging in sex acts with the girl for the purpose of producing child pornography, court documents said.
In the federal case, Griffin engaged in sexual conduct on at least five occasions with the girl for the purpose of producing a videotape. The abuse began when the girl was 5 or 6 and ended when she was 12, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
A relative of the girl discovered the videotape on Dec. 15, 2010, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“That’s when we decided to take it federal,” county Assistant State’s Attorney Brett Wilson said. The discovery of the pornography allowed federal authorities to have jurisdiction in the case, Wilson said.
The plea is also easier on the victim because there will be no trial in county circuit court, he said.
Griffin’s state charges were placed on the inactive docket last year in Washington County Circuit Court, but will be reintroduced in the near future, Wilson said.
When that happens, Griffin has agreed to plead guilty to a state charge of sexually abusing a minor and will receive a 30-year sentence to run concurrent with the federal sentence, he said.
During the period when the incidents occurred, Griffin lived in the Hancock area and then Hagerstown, charging documents said.
