A Maryland judge was fatally shot when federal law enforcement showed up at his home to arrest him on charges of child pornography Friday morning, authorities reported.
Caroline County Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Newell, 50, was found dead of a self-inflicted firearm by FBI agents around 6:43 a.m., according to Maryland prosecutors.
Federals were at the judge’s home in Henderson to arrest him on a charge of sexually exploiting a child for allegedly filming teenage boys in his hunting lodge, The Baltimore Sun reported.
Neighbors reported that the FBI had arrived just after 6 a.m. demanding Newell come out with his hands raised before they heard a gunshot.
Newell had been on leave since July, after one of several boys the judge had taken on a hunting trip to Hoopers Island discovered a hidden camera in the bathroom and called his parents, according to court documents obtained by the Sun. .
At least two of the boys told investigators that Newell checked them for ticks when they were naked.
“One claimed that he moved his own genitals for Newell to look for ticks, and the other initially did not remember if Newell touched his genitals, but later claimed that Newell once or twice moved the child’s genitals to look for ticks. “FBI Special Agent Rachel Corn wrote in the complaint.
Officers stormed Newell’s home, truck and law firm and said they found a hard drive in his lair containing numerous videos of naked young men showering. Newell was captured in the images mounting the camera and in a clip he could be seen looking for ticks on a naked young man, the Sun reported.
Newell refused to install the camera, but investigators said they caught him trying to chew and swallow a memory card when he first faced the allegations.
“The investigator heard a loud, distinguishable,‘ crunch ’sound from the area of Newell’s mouth,” the FBI wrote in the cargo documents.
“After a minute or two, the investigator heard the same ‘crunch’ from Newell’s mouth again, followed by Newell who immediately grabbed and drank from a cup in his shop window.”
Investigators forced Newell to do a computed tomography scan at a nearby hospital, which revealed a “strange object” believed to be missing from the camera’s memory card.
Federal prosecutors said Maryland state police “will direct the investigation into the apparent suicide.”
Newell’s defense attorneys issued a small statement to the Sun, saying, “Our hearts are broken for Judge Newell’s family, especially for his two children with whom he was very close.”
Newell has been a judge since 2016 and the county’s chief prosecutor for more than a decade.