Bel Air man pleads guilty to using hidden bathroom camera to record girls for sex trafficking network
Oct. 25—A Bel Air man pleaded guilty on Monday for using a hidden camera to record and send sexually explicit images of girls to a sex trafficking network.
Charles Wheat III, 38, recorded footage of five girls at his home using a hidden camera in a bathroom. Between April and November 2020, Wheat was paid by three female sex traffickers in the Philippines for the footage, according to his plea agreement.
Wheat sent images of three of the girls, which were found on his phone, to two Filipino women.
Authorities also found videos sent to Wheat's phone that depicted one of the women engaging in sexual conduct with a boy, as well as footage of a girl who was encouraged by the woman to engage in sex acts with the boy, according to his plea agreement.
Wheat faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison for production of child pornography. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 17, 2024, at 10:30 a.m.
Following his release from prison, Wheat will be required to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee and where he is a student.
Wheat's lawyer for not immediately available for comment Wednesday.
