From Maryland State Police:
Maryland State Police computer crimes investigators have arrested and charged a Harford County man with the possession and distribution of child pornography.
The suspect is identified as Jeffrey Roger Forwood 49, of Bel Air, Md. He is charged with three counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of distribution of child pornography. Subsequent to his arrest, Forwood was transported to the Bel Air Barrack.
Beginning in August 2017, the Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Unit began conducting an online investigation involving the distribution and possession of child pornography. During the operation, the investigator was able to download child pornography from a specific IP address.
The ensuing investigation allowed investigators to determine that the IP address used by the suspect was assigned to a specific residential address in Bel Air, Md. Troopers subsequently obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s residence and served the warrant at 5:30 a.m. this morning. The search warrant was served with assistance from agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Harford County Sheriff’s Office and Bel Air Police Department.
Troopers identified the suspect in his residence and later placed him under arrest. Any individual with relevant information on this case is asked to call 1-800-637-5437.
The investigation is continuing.
Is he related to Major Mark Forwood from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office? Major Forwood was arrested for theft and was part of the Jesse Bane regime.
Gotta be an uncle or cousin. What a sick man, I guess it runs in the family.
Damn Trump Jr.
Why is is that when ever the deplorable’s get arrested the racist bigots in Harford County go silent? I am asking for a friend named Milo
People like you are the reason this country has issues. Black, White, Indian, Mexican…A child molestor is just that. Plain and simple let’s not bring race into this. you sir or ma’am are an idiot plain and simple.
No “Wax on wax off”, people like you are the problem. The article never mentions anything about this man molesting a child, but what you just inferred is that he is a “child molester”. In reality, he is probably guilty of not realizing how bit torrent/P2P file sharing works and downloading some questionable material. Quite frankly, I consider the MSP/Homeland Security programs, such as these, nothing more than witch hunts. Now, “BigotsGotNutnToSay” never interjected race into the conversation, he just pointed out that the racist bigots that normally swarm this website have gotten awful silent when they see someone such as the accused on these pages. Every time a person of color is demonized on these pages the comments sections are loaded with racial innuendo, but in this case none are present. What’s wrong with that. It’s nothing more than the truth being pointed out……
Yep. Totally a witch hunt. This guy just downloaded a few images of 9 year old girls with their twats spread wide open. Is that what you consider ‘questionable material’?
Didn’t read that anywhere in the article. Now, if that is true, then that means you are intimately involved in the case and just violated this man’s rights involving due process and an impartial trial. Since you didn’t consider the material that was downloaded “questionable”, maybe those in the courts will find your actions “questionable”. Even if the information you just revealed was true, does that make this man a child molester when he didn’t molest a child? Doesn’t that make you allegedly guilty of spreading slander through false statements? If a man is a child molester then he must have molested a child. Please reveal when a child was molested by this man or when the definition of being a child molester was changed to viewing pictures of a 9 year old girls “twat” and not actually molesting a child….
I suppose I am not as familiar with the criminal system as you are. LOL! What makes you think child pornography is okay? That’s quite the unpopular opinion.
The article says this was based on downloading from a specific IP address. So what if his neighbor hacked his WiFi or he just had an unsecured connection?
@ “ALittleTooLiberal” – Nobody said child pornography is OK. However, possession of child pornography is NOT child molestation. Furthermore, I think the REAL issue here is governmental over reach. Quite frankly I believe the initial investigation is a search of his effects, which is unreasonable because he did it from within his home and I do believe is a 4th Amendment violation of his privacy. If he downloaded “questionable” material from the internet that was NOT labeled CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, then how is he supposed to know that what was contained in the download was illegal? It’s obvious that the sting is some sort of bit torrent/P2P scam as it says the Police were able to download the material from his home IP address, which they have determined to be distribution of the material. Now as far as I know, normal everyday individuals do NOT have the authority to obtain the physical address locations of IP Addresses which means the technique was not in public use. This is nothing but the use of a “device that is not in general
public use, to explore details of the home that would previously have
been unknowable without physical intrusion” and “the surveillance is a
“search” and is presumptively unreasonable without a warrant”. This is straight out of the 2001 Kyllo vs. US SCOTUS ruling and it applies to any type of surveillance that is used for probable cause for a warrant.
Yes, you can very easily trace an IP address to a specific address using freely available tools on the internet. Whether you have the authority to do so…meh…but you can easily find a way.
The public IP that is traceable actually sits on service provider equipment, most of the time. The router that you lease from Comcast, Verizon, etc..etc.. is their property, not yours. Even though it resides within your home, they are always accessing it to upgrade firmware, and to troubleshoot / test lines. They do not require your permission to “explore details of the home that would previously have been unknowable without physical intrusion”. In this case, there was no “physical intrusion” as no physical presence was required to conduct the query.
If you believe internet surveillance is a “search” then you need to visit what every…single…ISP does with regards to your traffic. Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, Facebook – they all know where you have been, and what you did there.
Try reading the fine print of your service agreement – eye opening the things they can do…and everyone signs freely without reading.
@Tech Guru – There are no reliable or reputable sites that offer the actual street address of an IP address to my knowledge. Even the pay ones have an accuracy disclaimer. A Court will only consider the information that is obtained by an ISP. Since an ISP will only give information to a court, an officer of the court or an officer of the law, the information is not in public use because the public can not get to it. There’s a catch to that whole service agreement thing and its called a tax. When you look at your ISP bill, please notice the tax that is attached to it. When there is a tax on a service, there is a license for that service provider. When there are licenses, there are rules that the service provider is supposed to follow to be licensed. One of those rules is to cooperate with law enforcement requests or have their license suspended or revoked. At this point the ISP is actually a coerced informant for the state and information that is discovered may only be obtained by means that any law enforcement officer may do. When the ISP makes you check that box accepting the terms of service use, that is coercion as well and is actually born of the tax and licenses of the government. In your version of the scheme, you are actually paying the cable company and the government to spy on you, which is absurd. I own my router, but I don’t think equipment ownership means a hill of beans when you consider the coerced acceptance of the service agreements. Lastly, the whole point of KYLLO 2001 was to limit the governmental exploration into our homes by any “device” not in public use. Legally, the term “device” has been used to describe a “contrivance” for far longer than any mechanical or electronic gadget from our era used to surveil us. What I am saying is any “contrivance” used to explore our homes that is not in general public use is unreasonable without a warrant, including coerced acceptance of user agreements that seemingly allow this to take place. Not to mention ALL computers are firewalled which means the users intended for its contents to be private. I understand the IP address argument, but I still would say the surveillance is a search by the standards of Kyllo.
He looks like antifa to me.
Great that makes complete sense. I totally agree. Child pornography is only okay if enjoyed within one’s home. Is that why drug dealers sell out of their homes? To prevent government overreach? How did you acquire your drugs before you were arrested?
No. You don’t get it and never will. People are supposed to be secure in their homes. There are other ways to collect legitimate evidence that doesn’t involve using “legal tricks” to discover what is in one’s home. SCOTUS has repeatedly made rulings that infer this. Once again, you are trying to bring my past up to shift the discussion in that direction. This article isn’t about drugs or drug dealing. If a person sells drugs out of their home, you make a controlled buy to get a legitimate search warrant of the home. The bottom line is Police have forgotten how to investigate without breaking the law. That is the issue.
Don’t grow weed, deal drugs, converse with ISIS or trade child porn in your home and you won’t run afoul with the law.
No, Smitty. When the law breaks the law, to enforce the law, they become lawless and a member of the 0rganized Crime Syndicut and Terr0rist 0rganization that law enforcement has become. When the Judges allow this to happen they become members of the same group. When prosecutors take part they become members of the mafia as well. When our lawyers submit to the courts and coerce us into illegal convictions they become members too. The problem is governmental over reach into the homes and that is a place they are not supposed to tread….Please note that I had to intentionally misspell some words in this comment or the Dagger will censor me, which is a 1st Amendment violation. I find it ironic that a website that claims to be the “press”, actually commits 1st Amendment violations against its readers.
Of course, SC is wrong again. Only the government can commit violations against your Constitutional rights. A private website can legally censor anything and everything any way that it wants to.
You may be right. However, the censorship is the equivalent of a 1st Amendment violation, something that the press actually frowns upon. It is very ironic that it takes place on the very pages of a website that claims to report “local news with an edge”. However, times are changing and a current lawsuit between PragerU and Google may make exactly what I’m talking about illegal in the very near future. http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/10/conservative-educational-nonprofit-sues-google-youtube-alleged-free-speech-censorship/
SoulCrusher, that lawsuit only would not affect this website because it isn’t a public forum. I don’t think this website would be looked at as a public forum. It might not be good to censor people but it happens. Look for another website.
The bigger question is how long is the Bel Air Police going to allow people to do whatever they want at 510 Johnnys. Completely out of control And if it doesn’t stop things will get way out of hand. Hope the police fix it
Oh please mad dog tell us more
Go there on a Thursday night it’s wild. Well I haven’t been there in 2 months but I imagine nothing has changed. Not sure why it’s Bel Air Police Or Harford County Police Depts issue. If there is a problem pull their liquor license. They need to get competent private security. I’m not going back there until then
A night club that is wild at night? Shut them down they are taking clients from the old crappy belair hangouts.
So BB and mad dog which ones do you work for? LOL
Ok kids lets get back to what this story is about
Hey Billy Bob. It’s the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, not Dept. Before you post, know your facts.
It doesn’t matter. 99.9 percent of the general public know what you’re you talking about when you say “Sheriff’s Dept.”
I assume nobody here is a “recruit” in the academy getting “smoked” by calling it “department” instead of “office.” So your nomenclature makes no difference.
Think how many times per day a Maryland Trooper is called “officer.”
notworthit sounds like a new douchbag recruit with an attitude problem and a happy trigger
Hey yo MOMMA. Please learn the correct terms. It’s the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. By the way, Troopers are called Troopers not Officers.
“By the way, Troopers are called Troopers not Officers.”
That’s what I said, isn’t it?
“Think how many times a day a trooper is called an officer.” It really appears you lack reading comprehension in the example I used when the majority of public don’t use the “correct terms.”
What are you going to about it if I call the Sheriff’s Office, the Sheriff’s Department? I know, nothing.
As soon as you use your computer to go outside the four walls of your home to download “questionable material” that is illegal to possess. You have broken the law. We need to focus on protecting our children. This is why there is $$$ in human trafficking. Pervs like this create a demand for it.
I disagree with your interpretation of the law. You never leave your home to download something. The capture of the digital stream occurs in your home. Most computers are firewalled meaning they are trying to keep its contents private. I find it distasteful to watch child porn and believe that those who watch it have issues. Most child porn is created outside of the US, so who’s children are you really protecting? The children of other countries who are not American citizens? We DO NOT have jurisdiction of crimes committed in other countries. That is something that needs to be addressed as the rest of the world considers America the actual terrorist. Still, when watching a video became a felony offense it opened up a whole new boulder dash of domestic terrorism upon the American public and may make other forms of viewing media a felony offense in the future. If it becomes a felony to just view something what happens when they make it a felony to watch a video that speaks out against government corruption. This is all governing by intimidation. This is nonsense. You say this man should go to jail for watching a distasteful video that gets him off. I say at least this man has not acted out his urges unto an actual child. That shows restraint and some form of judgement as to where the proverbial line is regarding the breaking of a law. I find it unreasonable for a man to be branded a sex offender and a child molester because he downloaded and watched some questionable material. We don’t even know that he deliberately downloaded this material thinking it was of underage children. All in all, precedents such as these are dangerous and will allow the ever increasing eyes of law further into our homes. That is the real issue here……One I think the Supreme Court needs to address and I am sure the outcome will be one which you won’t agree with.
I love how you refer Child Pornography as ‘Questionable Material”….are you really saying that as long as a person is “getting off” on Child Porn and not actually committing the act against children is somehow acceptable to society? Please provide reference to your statement that most Child Porn is created outside of the U.S. – The U.S. has unfortunately become a breading ground for creating pornography of all forms. We simply turn the other cheek until it affects us personally in some way. I shutter to think children live near you while holding the beliefs you do. A side note to parents reading the comments of “SoulCrusher”….hold your children tight. You should certainly realize NOW that there are some in our society that have NO problem with the idea of grown men OR women watching your little Johnny being sodomized by another person regardless of his age.
What a bunch of BS. Most child porn is made in former soviet block countries and the orient. The mainstream porn producers of the US won’t even consider making anything like what you suggest. Now, if your talking about someone holding an underage boy or girl down and having their way with them while the child is screaming for help and being recorded, that is Child Abuse Pornography and that is unacceptable in any form or fashion. Anything like that should be prosecuted and removed from the internet. I would also question the mental health of anyone who enjoys watching something like that. I’d say the same thing about any type of material where the participants, underage or not, are not willing and are screaming for help. But, that is not what we’re really talking about is it? In most cases people download the material accidentally or are unaware the participants are underage and there is no sign that the participation is unwilling. Furthermore, in a lot of the cases, it is teenagers making it themselves for boyfriends or girlfriends and when they break up the other person puts it on the internet to get back at the former “friend”. Get realistic “Harford County Citizen”, what you are talking about is not child pornography, it’s child abuse pornography and that is something that should be punishable by death or castration, not jail time………
Soooo the participant you “accidentally” have downloaded to your computer or device has to be screaming for help to be considered Child Pornography? As long as they are willing as you say…correct? As an adult I know it must be very difficult to tell if the person is 9 years old or 20. I got it now SoulCrusher. Thank you for clearing the air of your sick thinking.
No, once again you are trying to construe what I am saying into what you want it to mean. What I am saying is it is unlawful to invade the privacy of what one does in their home, as long as their actions are not harming others. It should not be considered an act of child molestation or a sexual offense to watch a video, even if it is distasteful. It should NOT be a felony to simply watch a video, even if it is distasteful. That the type of pornography that you are describing is not only distasteful, it is an act of rape and that should be punishable by death or castration by the offender. That the type of pornography that you are describing is NOT what was on this man’s computer as the article would have specifically said “including acts of child abuse, torture and rape”. It is difficult to tell if a teenager is underage or an adult, depending upon their physical development, the way they act or the way they dress. If you claim you have never seen a female in public, that looked lustfully beautiful to you and she ended up being underage, I am calling you a liar. I would like to remind you, that not very long ago, the men of this country were marrying women who where as young as 12 and considered this prime marrying age. Since this is the case, I would say a lot of people in this country have ancestors who would be considered sexual predators in today’s society and maybe this type of attraction is hereditary. If someone is a willing participant, regardless of age, the sentencing of the individual should reflect this as it was mutually consented upon, even if it is against the law. People don’t have control over who they fall in love with or desire. If they did, you wouldn’t be looking at the ugly skank you see across the dinner table every night. I personally have never had sexual relations with anyone under the age of 18, since I myself turned 18. That was the law of my time and I have stuck to what I know as proper behavior. You go through an awful lot of trouble trying to debate me and psycho analyze just about everything I type. You my friend are not only a sociopath, you are a psychopath.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_pornography
It’s “shudder to think” you idiot