November 15, 2021: Mayor of Cambridge Charged with violating Maryland’s Revenge Porn Statute

Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III announced today that Andrew Bradshaw, Mayor of Cambridge, Maryland has been charged with 50 counts of distributing revenge porn.

The Criminal Information, filed today in the Circuit Court for Dorchester County, alleges that Andrew Bradshaw created multiple accounts on the public internet forum “Reddit”, employing public usernames consisting of permutations of the name and birthdate of a person, identified as VICTIM-1, who had a past romantic relationship with Mr. Bradshaw.  Mr. Bradshaw is then alleged to have posted nude photographs of VICTIM-1, captioned with racial slurs and sexually explicit language, on those “Reddit” accounts and various “Subreddit” forums that were related to sexual activity, humiliation, degradation, race, and other topics.  The charging document further alleges Mr. Bradshaw disseminated the images without the knowledge or consent of VICTIM-1, and with the intent to harm her.

Maryland’s Revenge Porn Statute, Maryland Criminal Law Article § 3-809, prohibits the nonconsensual distribution of a private visual representation of another which exposes their intimate body parts or displays them engaged in sexual activity, with the intent to harm, harass, intimidate, threaten or coerce the person depicted.  If convicted, Mr. Bradshaw would face a maximum penalty of two years’ incarceration and a $5,000 fine for each count.

“Using someone’s private images without their consent is a serious breach of trust and invasion of privacy, and the power and breadth of the internet makes such a violation even more egregious”, said State Prosecutor Howard, “Our office is committed to protecting victims from those who abuse their positions of power and trust.”

The Office of the State Prosecutor would like to acknowledge the Maryland State Police and the Easton Police Department for their collaboration in this effort.

All individuals who are charged with a criminal offense are presumed to be innocent.

A copy of the charging document can be found HERE. (WARNING:  This copy of the charging document has been redacted to exclude racial epithets, but does contain sexually explicit language.)