LA PLATA, Md. — Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Monday, July 1, 2024, Charles County Circuit Court Judge William R. Greer, Jr. sentenced Johnny Darrell Hammonds, 54, of White Plains, to 25 years in prison for 4 counts of Solicitation of Child Porn. Upon release, Hammonds will be on supervised probation for five years.
On May 3, 2024, Hammonds entered a guilty plea to the aforementioned charges, as well as admitted to violating his probation in a separate case involving the sexual solicitation of a minor.
On July 27, 2023, an officer of the Charles County Sherriff’s Office received an anonymous tip that Hammonds was sexually harassing the tipster. The tipster also reported that Hammonds was using the social media site, Quora, to send communications.
An investigation into the tip revealed that Hammonds was using Quora to reach out to minors and leave inappropriate comments that were sexual in nature. Hammonds also exchanged inappropriate messages with four minor female victims and asked them to send sexually explicit photographs.
In 2010, Hammonds was convicted in Charles County Circuit Court for the sexual abuse of a 16-year-old victim. In 2021, he was convicted in Charles County Circuit Court for a separate incident involving the sexual solicitation of a minor and the failure to register a social media account with the Maryland Sex Offender Registry.
Hammonds, a Tier III Level Sex Offender, is required to report all his social media accounts to the Maryland Sex Offender Registry. However, Hammonds failed to report his Quora profile to the Maryland Sex Offender Registry. Additionally, Hammonds was ordered not to have contact with minors including through electronic means.
Sentence
C-08-CR-24-000051
Count 1
Count 3
- 10 years in prison
- Consecutive to Count 1
Count 5
- 10 years in prison with all but 5 years suspended
- Consecutive to Counts 1 and 3
Count 9
- 10 years in prison with all suspended
- Consecutive to Counts 1, 3, 5
- 5 years supervised probation
C-08-CR-21-000227
Violation of Probation: 8.5 years in prison concurrent with C-08-CR-24-000051
