Man charged in 'Net teen sex case

August 16, 2000

Man charged in 'Net teen sex case

A Washington County Fire Police officer charged with solicitation of minors for sex acts and distributing child pornography over the Internet was being held on $100,000 bond Wednesday evening, Maryland State Police said.

Warren V. Conway, 61, of the 200 block of East Poplar Street in Funkstown, was charged Tuesday with solicitation of a minor for the purpose of engaging in sexual contact, possession of pornography, distribution of child pornography and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to state police.

Conway, who is a member of the Mount Aetna Fire Department, has been a fire police officer for more than 10 years, according to Mount Aetna Chief Terry Stouffer.

Authorities confiscated his fire police badge upon his arrest Tuesday and he was suspended from duty, said 1st Sgt. Randy Wilkinson of the Washington County Sheriff's Department.

On Aug. 14, a woman told state police her 16-year-old son was approached by a man who wanted to take a picture of him engaging in a sex act with a female juvenile.

The teen told police Monday he was invited by the man, who he apparently knew, to swim in a pool at a Hagerstown hotel where he had rented a room.

Police said the teenager went to the room where he met a man and a 16-year-old female. The man asked the teenage boy if he could take pictures using still and video cameras while the boy and the female had sex. The boy refused, police said.

While a police investigator was at the teen's home Monday evening, Conway contacted the boy by computer, police alleged.

During a conversation on the Internet, a pornographic picture of the female juvenile was e-mailed to the boy, police said.

Conway was arrested Tuesday evening at his place of employment and taken to his home, where investigators executed a search warrant at 7:30 p.m.

Troopers from the computer crimes unit and Hagerstown Barracks recovered a computer, floppy disks, diaries, printed photos of adult and child pornography, videotapes and other materials, police alleged.

Conway was later taken to the Hagerstown Barracks for processing, police said.

- Kimberly Yakowski

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