Maryland Trump Delegate Indicted On Fed Child Porn, Explosives, Gun Charges

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign stop at the Signature Flight Hangar at Port-Columbus International Airport, Tuesday, March 1, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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A Maryland delegate to the Republican National Convention for Donald Trump was indicted late Wednesday on federal child pornography and weapons charges.

Caleb Andrew Bailey, 30, was charged with production of child porn, unlawful transport of explosive materials, illegal possession of a machine gun and possession of child porn in U.S. District Court in Maryland.

Joe Cluster, executive director for the Maryland Republican Party, confirmed to TPM on Thursday afternoon that Bailey was the same man elected to represent Trump at the summer convention from the state’s 5th Congressional District.

Cluster told TPM that he’s reached out to the Republican National Committee about next steps.

Bailey’s father is Collins Bailey, a former first vice chair of the state GOP, Cluster said.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in a statement to TPM that Bailey would be replaced immediately.

“We strongly condemn these allegations and leave it in the capable hands of law enforcement,” she said.

In Maryland, any registered Republican can run to be a delegate. Delegates are elected by congressional district, with slates of candidates endorsed by the campaigns denoted on the primary ballot. Both Bailey and his father appeared on the Trump campaign’s slate.

According to an affidavit sworn by ATF Special Agent Daniel Giblin, law enforcement responded on Feb. 18 to a postal office in Capital Heights, Maryland to inspect a package that had ruptured open. The package, which was addressed to a recipient in Wisconsin, contained 119 rounds of reloaded .50-caliber cartridges with M48A1 incendiary projectiles and 200 rounds of 14.2mm M183A1 spotting projectiles with an explosive charge.

Investigators then traced the package to a USPS office in White Plains, Maryland, where shipping was paid for with a debit card registered to Bailey’s name.

Bailey called USPS twice in late February and early March to inquire about the package, identifying himself with a false name on the first call. When Bailey did not show up at a meeting arranged by officers – ostensively to provide more information about the missing package – officers executed a federal search warrant at Bailey’s properties, where they seized a machine gun, according to the affidavit.

The indictment alleges Bailey attempted to and did use a minor to produce child porn between March 2015 and January 2016.

If convicted, Bailey faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years to a maximum 30 years in prison for production and attempted production of child porn, a maximum of 10 years for transport of explosives and illegal possession of a machine gun, and a maximum 10 years for possessing child porn, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Bailey is currently in federal custody pending a detention hearing May 24.

Maryland’s ABC7 first reported the indictment.

Read the affidavit:

And the federal indictment:

This post has been updated.

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