State v. Bryan Frederick Simanton, K16-965
LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Friday, February 7, 2020, Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West sentenced Bryan Frederick Simanton, 39 of La Plata, to 8 years in prison for violating the probation of a 2016 case, in which he entered a guilty plea to the Production of Child Pornography, Possession of a Handgun, and Visual Surveillance with Prurient Intent.
An investigation into the 2016 case revealed that Simanton set up a video camera in a juvenile victim’s bathroom at a residence in La Plata. At one point, Simanton gave the victim an alcoholic beverage and the victim fell asleep. The victim reported that when she woke up, Simanton was having inappropriate contact with her. Simanton was subsequently apprehended and on February 3, 2017, he was sentenced to ten years in prison with all but two years suspended, as well as five years of probation. As a part of his probation, Simanton was ordered to have no contact with minors.
After his release, Simanton spent the night at an acquaintance’s house in Harford County with minors present. A juvenile victim who was present inside the house reported to the Harford County Child Advocacy Center that on the evening of September 21, 2018, Simanton provided her and her friends with alcohol and at some point, she fell asleep. The victim also reported that when she woke up, Simanton was touching her inappropriately.
On December 10, 2019, Simanton admitted to violating his probation in Charles County Circuit Court in front of the Honorable Judge H. James West.
At sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Proctor, asking for the full amount of suspended time, addressed the judge, “The Court should have no tolerance. There are no excuses for this behavior. We have another victim who had to go through this.”
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