Howard County Judge Sentences Man To Prison For Child Sex Abuse, Pornography

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A 47-year-old Baltimore man has been sentenced to 65 years in prison after a Howard County jury found him guilty of sexual child abuse, conspiracy to commit 2nd-degree rape and conspiracy to commit sexual solicitation of a minor by a Howard County jury in September of 2022.

Between Jan. 2, 2020, and March 5, 2020, Roy David Free sexually abused a minor who was placed in his care, according to court documents. The state’s case was based in large part on text messages that Free and a co-defendant exchanged leading up to, during and after the abuse of the minor.

In a second case, Free pleaded guilty on Oct. 3, 2022, to one count of production of child pornography for images he created while abusing a different child. At his sentencing, Judge Timothy J. McCrone described Free as a diabolical and dangerous person saying he “violated the trust of the children and their parents.”