The Office of the State Prosecutor charged Cambridge Mayor Andrew Bradshaw with 50 counts of revenge porn distribution Monday.
“Using someone’s private images without their consent is a serious breach of trust and invasion of privacy, and the power and breadth of the internet makes such a violation even more egregious,” Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III said in a statement Monday.
According to the charging document filed Monday morning, Bradshaw is facing charges for allegedly publishing nude images of a former girlfriend through multiple Reddit accounts that used permutations of her name and birthdate without her knowledge or consent.
The images were captioned with sexually explicit language and racial slurs.
Under Maryland’s revenge porn law, it’s illegal to nonconsensually publish private images displaying an individual engaging in sexual activity or exposing their genitals, female nipples, pubic area or buttocks with the intent to intimidate, threaten, harm, harass or coerce.
Bradshaw, 32, is serving his first term as the mayor of Cambridge. He was elected in 2020.
Should he be convicted, Bradshaw could face up to two years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both, for each count.
“Our office is committed to protecting victims from those who abuse their positions of power and trust,” Howard said.
The Cambridge city website was updated Monday to alert the public that the administration is aware of the charges against Bradshaw.
“The City is aware of the matter involving the Mayor. The City is currently gathering information and will cooperate fully with the Maryland State Police and the Office of the State Prosecutor,” the website reads. “As this is an active legal matter, no further comments will be made at this time.”
In a phone call, a representative from Cambridge City Hall said the administration currently has no comment. No attorney was immediately listed for Bradshaw in online court records Monday.
Hannah Gaskill
Reporter
Hannah Gaskill was a reporter for Maryland Matters. She left the publication in May 2022. Gaskill received her master’s of journalism degree in December 2019 from the University of Maryland. She previously worked on the print layout design team at The Diamondback, reported on criminal justice in Maryland for Capital News Service and served as a production assistant for The Confluence — the daily news magazine on 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR member station. Gaskill has had bylines in The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post and The Chicago Tribune, among other publications. Before pursuing journalism, she received her bachelor’s of fine art degree from Carnegie Mellon University in 2016. She grew up in Ocean City.
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