Content warning: This story contains sensitive material that some readers may find distressing.
The former mayor of University Park, Maryland, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of producing and distributing images of child sexual abuse.
Joel Biermann, 46, of University Park, is accused of persuading and coercing multiple victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct, of which he produced images, according to the indictment.
Biermann was indicted last week on two counts of producing child sexual abuse material, one count of distributing child sexual abuse material and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material.
The alleged abuse happened between Oct. 26, 2012, and Oct. 28, 2024, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Maryland. It overlaps with his time as mayor of University Park from 2022 through June 2024.
According to the indictment, Biermann distributed child sexual abuse material on March 13, 2016.
He was taken into custody last fall. Charging documents detailed the allegations, including that Biermann paid a person to produce sexually explicit images of two young boys.
Law enforcement officers searched Biermann’s devices and said they found 45,000 files containing suspected child sexual abuse. Some of those file names listed the children’s race and age, with the youngest listed as 2 years old. Several were explicitly labeled with the terms “rape,” others mentioned torture or bondage.
If convicted, Biermann would face a maximum of 30 years in federal prison for the production of child sexual abuse material, a maximum of 20 years for the distribution of child sexual abuse material and a maximum of 20 years for possession of child sexual abuse material, according to the news release.
In November 2023, the mayor of College Park, a neighboring jurisdiction, was also sentenced to 30 years in a child sexual abuse materials case.
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