Ex-police lieutenant sentenced to five years for child porn

47-year-old had sexual relationship with teenager

A former Anne Arundel County police lieutenant was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for his relationship with a teen 30 years younger than him and for receiving child pornography, officials said.

James Cifala, 47, of Edgewater, had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl, beginning in 2009, that involved Cifala using pre-paid cell phones and social networking sites to send and receive messages from the victim, including arranging sexual encounters with her, according to a release from U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

"James Cifala was a sworn law enforcement officer who violated his oath in an egregious manner by engaging in a relationship with a child who was more than 30 years younger," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein in a statement.

Between May and July of 2009, Cifala asked the victim to take and send to his cell phone more than 10 photos of her engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to Cifala's plea agreement. From August to September 2009, the plea states, the two exchanged more than 1,300 messages with many being sexually graphic.

In January, police searched his home and seized computers that had more than 10 images of child pornography that were not of the victim.

Cifala's five-year sentence will be followed by 15 years of supervised release.

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