Port Deposit Man Pleads Guilty in Child Pornography Case

A Port Deposit man pleaded guilty Monday in Baltimore to federal charges of receipt of child pornography after investigators found explicit photos and videos on hard drives and DVDs during a counterfeit currency investigation.

Michael Dean Ragan Jr., 30, will serve 12 years in prison followed by at least 20 years, but up to a lifetime, of supervised release under a plea agreement, according to a release from U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein's office.

He will also be required to register as a sex offender. U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander has scheduled official sentencing for 10:30 a.m. Sept. 4.

A laptop, desktop, camera, hard drive and other digtal media belonging to Ragan were seized by authorities investigating counterfeit currency operations. Ragan pleaded guilty to separate state counterfeiting charges, according to the release.

In addition to evidence of counterfeiting, authorities also found on the seized items 335 images and 17 videos of minors conducting sexual acts, sadism, masochism and other violent acts, according to the release.

A seized DVD had a video of Ragan engaging in what the release called "sexually explicit conduct" with a boy. The video was taken without the boy's knowledge, according to the release. Ragan admitted to the conduct and to being an administrator on a website for viewing, sharing and distributing child pornography, according to the release.