Maryland mayor charged with distributing dozens of revenge porn images under multiple Reddit accounts
The mayor of Cambridge, Maryland is facing 50 counts of distributing revenge porn. The state prosecutor, Charlton T. Howard III, announced the charges on Monday, saying that Andrew Bradshaw created multiple accounts on Reddit to distribute the content.
The charges allege that Bradshaw, 32, posted nude photographs on the site of a roughly 26-year-old woman with whom he had a past romantic relationship, and were accompanied by captions "with racial slurs and sexually explicit language."
The photos were uploaded under accounts he created with usernames that included variations of the name and birthdate of his alleged and currently unnamed victim, and posted to multiple "subreddit" forums "related to sexual activity, humiliation, degradation, race, and other topics," according to a press release from the state attorney. "DegradeThisPig" and "Slut" were among the subreddits the photos were posted to.
Bradshaw's actions, the prosecutor said, are in violation of the state's revenge porn statute, which prohibits nonconsensual distribution of such photographs. If Bradshaw is convicted, he could face up to two years of jail 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," Howard said. "Our office is committed to protecting victims from those who abuse their positions of power and trust."
The woman whose photographs were published on Reddit contacted law enforcement about the situation in May, according to the complaint, saying she did not consent to their publication and that she had only sent them to Bradshaw when they were in a relationship. Police traced the photos to the IP address at Bradshaw's property, court documents say.
Bradshaw made his first court appearance on the matter on Monday and was released on his own recognizance, CBS Baltimore reported.
On its website, the city of Cambridge says it is "gathering information and will cooperate fully with the Maryland State Police and the Office of the State Prosecutor." The business of the city is "unaffected" by the matter, the city said.
Bradshaw took office in Cambridge in January, at which time he became the youngest mayor in the city's history, according to the city's website.