Silver Spring Man Charged for Possessing Child Pornography

Silver Spring resident Benjamin Mark Urban, 28, heads to prison for a 15-year sentence for the possession of child pornography.

Urban was also ordered by the judge preceding over the case to register as a sex offender where he lives, works and if he enrolls in school, including a lifetime of supervision. This is mandatory under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

He will also have to pay a $2,000 fine.

An investigation by officials in Spain, uncovered Urban's Internet protocol (IP) address had been accessing at least six child pornography videos between January 1 to March 3, 2010, according to a plea agreement by the Department of Justice. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was notified shortly after.

In September of 2010, FBI agents secured a search warrant for Urban’s residence. They seized his computers, hard drives, MP3 players, CDs, DVDs and discs. 

According to the case, his computer had at least 150 video files and 6,000 images of child pornography, which included images of prepubescent children, some of which were engaged in sexually explicit conduct with adults.

Urban admitted to watching child pornography since he was 18-years-old, primarily using a file sharing program.