Child Sex Offender To Serve 35 Years For Violating Probation

GWYNN OAK, MD — A Baltimore County man on probation for sexually assaulting a girl more than a decade ago, has been ordered to serve 35 years in prison for violating the terms of probation in the 2009 child sex offense.

After serving years in prison for sexually assaulting a young girl, Dubree Lane, 57, was sentenced last week to serve the additional 35 years of his previously suspended term for violating probation for possessing child pornography, State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said.

"The outcome of this case is a result of the dedication of both law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in holding child abusers accountable. I am thankful that this defendant was removed from the community, as he has proven he is a danger to children and needs to be imprisoned for the foreseeable future," said Leitess in a statement Thursday.

"This case also highlights the importance of being vigilant in protecting children from adults who can use their proximity and access to abuse them. It is all too common that child predators befriend unsuspecting relatives in order to gain access to our young children. They look for opportunities to be alone with a child in the guise of babysitting. We must also be proactive with children and teach them what good touches and bad touches are, so they can recognize when they are being exploited."

In 2009, Lane was dating a relative of a 7-year-old girl. Once he gained their trust, he found time to be alone with the child and sexually assaulted her. When the child told her mother, Lane was arrested and charged. A year later, he pleaded guilty to second-degree sex offense and was sentenced by an Anne Arundel County judge to 50 years in prison, with all but 15 years suspended.

After his release from prison, Lane was ordered to be on supervised probation, register as a sex offender, and to have no contact with minor children.

In August 2022, the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children received tips from internet and electronic service providers that computers at Lane's address had uploaded multiple suspected child pornography images onto a service. NCMEC officials then contacted Baltimore County Police, who obtained a search warrant and served it upon Lane at his Gwynn Oak address. During the search, detectives found numerous images and videos of child pornography on Lane's devices.

After his arrest, investigators said Lane made phone calls from jail to his elderly father in an effort to convince him or other relatives to take the blame for the pornography because he faced a 35-year suspended sentence in Anne Arundel County. His father refused to cooperate with the request, prosecutors said.

On May 24, Lane pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and faces up to five years in prison at sentencing in Baltimore County in September. Baltimore County prosecutors contacted the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office to assist in the prosecution of Lane for violating his probation.

On July 24, Lane's violation of probation hearing was held and he admitted violating the terms of his probation. Leitess asked Circuit Court Judge Pamela K. Alban to impose the full suspended sentence from his 2009 case, and she sentenced Lane to 35 years in prison.