Ex Carroll County Teacher Sentenced To Prison For Child Porn

BALTIMORE — A former Carroll County educator who won a "Teacher of the Year" award will spend 22 years in federal prison for producing child pornography and soliciting minors for sex. He must pay a total of $33,000 in restitution to his victims, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Kenneth Brian Fischer, 41, of Westminster, admitted that he enticed boys to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which he documented through pictures and videos; that he chatted online with at least nine boys to obtain sexually explicit pictures of them; and that he tried to get two other boys to engage in sexually explicit conduct with him, according to his plea agreement.

Law enforcement officials said they honed in on Fischer in August 2017 after he contacted a detective in Virginia who was posing as a 14-year-old boy, using an app geared toward gay and bisexual men.

He tried to arrange a meeting to have sex and sent the detective a sexually explicit photo of a man wearing a green shirt with white lettering, officials said. Although the man's face was unclear, authorities said they seized an identical green t-shirt and numerous electronic devices when they executed a search warrant at his home in Carroll County.

His electronic devices revealed that had been communicating with five minors from November 2014 through the time of his arrest in September 2017. One of the boys was 13 years old when they exchanged nude photos, prosecutors said.

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Officials said Fischer has been in custody since Sept. 13, 2017, when he was arrested.

Fischer was a teacher at West Middle School in Westminster. Since 2000, he had worked as a teacher and administrator at other Carroll County Public Schools, including North Carroll High School, Winters Mill High School, Francis Scott Key High School, Manchester Valley High School, Sykesville Middle School and Mt. Airy Middle School.

The Maryland State Department of Education presented Fischer with a "Teacher of the Year" award in 2006 as a biology teacher at Winter Mills High School.

"Kenneth Fischer was a teacher who exploited children by enticing them to engage in sexually explicit conduct for his own gratification," U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur said in a statement after the July 8 sentencing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. "Now he faces years in federal prison, where there is no parole—ever. Law enforcement will continue to work to identify and prosecute those who prey on our children."

Authorities from Carroll County and Fairfax County, Virginia, collaborated with the FBI and Maryland State Police in the investigation.

Fischer will serve a 22-year sentence in federal prison, U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett ordered July 8.

He also ordered Fischer to pay $3,000 to each of the 11 identified victims, totaling $33,000, according to authorities.

Once he is released, Fischer must register as a sex offender wherever he lives, works or studies. He will be on a lifetime of supervised release.