Annapolis, MD – This morning in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, the Honorable Judge Sidney Butcher sentenced Christopher Willard Clendenin, age 38, of Davidsonville, to 35 years suspending all but 10 1/2 years to serve in the Division of Correction. Upon release from prison, Clendenin must serve 5 years of supervised probation, participate in the COMET program, and register as a Tier 1 sex offender for 15 years. Clendenin received credit for 97 days’ time served.
On Thursday, May 28, 2026 an Anne Arundel County jury found Clendenin guilty of seven counts of possession of child pornography.
State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess commented, “The possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material further revictimizes our most vulnerable, and behind the images is a story of abuse and trauma. Our prosecutors learned from the Australian Federal Police that one of the videos the defendant possessed depicted a female child under the age of 4 engaged in a sex act with an adult. We also learned from the National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom that a separate image in the defendant’s files showed a 4-year-old female from the United Kingdom being raped by an adult male.”
Leitess added, “This defendant has failed to take responsibility for his actions or acknowledge the harm that this type of crime causes. The Court’s guidelines sentence delivers significant prison time and sex offender monitoring after release to protect the community and ensure the defendant’s compliance.”
On April 26, 2023, detectives with the Anne Arundel County Police Department received a Cyber Tip for investigation. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) provided information of suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that was uploaded to the website Reddit. NCMEC provided a suspect name and IP address that led to the defendant, Christopher Clendenin of Davidsonville.
Detectives submitted a search and seizure warrant for the suspect’s Reddit and Google Gmail account on May 8, 2023. The Honorable Judge Christine Celeste reviewed and approved the search warrant, which was subsequently served to Google and Reddit. Google responded to the search warrant and the data connected an account linked to the defendant. Detectives found both still and video images depicting child sexual abuse material within the defendant’s Gmail folders.
Members of the Child Abuse Unit (CAU) responded to an address with a residential search and seizure warrant on August 24, 2023. The defendant was on scene and answered the door. During that event, items of evidence were seized and a brief interview of Clendenin was conducted. During that interview, the defendant was asked if he recognized the Gmail account under investigation, and he replied “Yeah, that’s a couple emails back.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorneys Anastasia T. Prigge and Sean Fox. The investigation was led by Detective Jonathan Bruce from the Anne Arundel County Police Department.