Former Maryland mayor pleads guilty to five counts of revenge porn

A former mayor from Maryland’s eastern shore has pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing revenge porn, the state prosecutor’s office announced on Monday.

Ex-Cambridge Mayor Andrew Bradshaw received a suspended sentence of five years and five days of incarceration, three years of supervised probation and a $5,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to illegally distributing pornographic material of his ex-girlfriend online, state prosecutors said.

Maryland state prosecutor Charlton Howard III said that “anyone who abuses the trust and confidence of another to degrade and humiliate them, particularly through the use of a forum as powerful and pervasive as the Internet, must be held accountable.”

“Such actions are especially egregious when committed by an individual holding a public leadership role of power and authority,” Howard said in a statement.

Bradshaw, 32, took office in January 2021 as mayor of Cambridge, a town on Maryland’s eastern shore peninsula, about 1 1/2 hours outside of Baltimore.

He resigned a year later after police raided his home last summer and state prosecutors in November unveiled 50 counts against him.

In his resignation letter shared online by The Dorchester Star, Bradshaw said the criminal case caused his colleagues to lose confidence in him. But the mayor promised to “prove by my words and my actions, publicly and privately, the authenticity of my beliefs.”

“I apologize to the citizens of Cambridge for having to make this decision, to those who have
businesses here, to those who work here, and to all those who care about what becomes of this
place,” Bradshaw said. “The actions for which I have been accused do not reflect my beliefs or my character; they are anathema to everything I hold in my heart and mind.”

As part of the plea agreement, Bradshaw will not face prison time under the suspended sentence. The former mayor also agreed to pay $750 to the victim and complete 100 hours of community service.

According to court documents, police were tipped off by a woman named only as Victim 1 on May 14. The victim, who was in an intimate relationship with the mayor at one point, accused Bradshaw of posting nude photos of her on the social media site Reddit without her consent.

The charges revealed 50 instances of Bradshaw posting the explicit photos on Reddit with sexualized captions in April and May 2021.

Maryland State Police raided Bradshaw’s home in August and found evidence backing up the claims of the victim on electronic devices. Bradshaw also admitted to posting the photos of the victim, according to court documents.

In November, Bradshaw was arrested and formally charged.

Maryland’s Revenge Porn Statute, Criminal Law Article § 3-809, prohibits the nonconsensual distribution of sexually explicit material with the intent to harm, harass, intimidate, threaten or coerce.

Bradshaw had faced a maximum sentence of up to two years in prison.