Cecil County Sheriff's Deputy Charged With Illegal Searches On Police Database

By Christine Condon, Maryland Matters

August 26, 2025

A Cecil County sheriff’s deputy faces more than 40 criminal counts for repeatedly searching a law enforcement database to turn up information about his wife, romantic partners and others, the Maryland State Prosecutor announced Wednesday.

The law only permits police officers to search the database in furtherance of a legitimate investigation, according to the prosecutor’s office. But charges against Dontae Odom said the patrol officer continually searched individuals in the database with whom he had a personal relationship, who were not the subject of a law enforcement investigation.

Odom, 36, who had served since 2019, resigned from the department on Friday, according to a spokesman.

Documents filed in Cecil County Circuit Court said the searches began in 2024, and Odom was notified that December that he was facing a criminal investigation for his use of the database. But a few of the dozens of unauthorized searches occurred in early 2025, to documents say.

Prosecutors listed seven victims, including Odom’s wife, romantic partners, and relatives of his romantic partners. Odom reportedly searched the database for an employee of an Ocean City hotel he visited with a romantic partner. None of the victims were named in the documents.

Cecil County Sheriff Scott A. Adams said his department told the state prosecutor about the situation after receiving a complaint.

“We received the initial complaint and upon review, decided that in the spirit of transparency, that an independent investigation would be best served in this case,” Adams said in a statement. “We take our job as public servants very seriously and expect all of our deputies to serve with the utmost integrity and professionalism.”

When Odom was told of the criminal investigation, he was ordered to cease contact with victims, including “Victim 4,” a romantic partner who worked in the same building that he did and who had witnessed the Ocean City search. But Odom continued to contact Victim 4 through social media, texts and emails, according to the court filing, and secretly recorded a conversation in March when they met at a secluded location, leading to a wiretapping charge.

In all, Odom faces 28 counts of misconduct in office, 16 counts of unauthorized access to a computer and one count of unlawful interception of communications. Attorneys listed for Odom in online court records did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

“Law enforcement officers are vested with significant powers to discharge their important duties,” Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III said in a statement. “Our office will continue to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute any allegations that a police officer abused those powers and violated the privacy rights of members of the community they are sworn to protect.”