On Wednesday the officials announced that an Elkton man will spend the next fifty years in federal prison.
Officials said U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Lawrence Aquilla Colby, IV, a/k/a “Buddy,” age 35, of Elkton, Maryland, yesterday to 50 years in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for his participation in a conspiracy to sexually abuse a child from the age of approximately four months to two years old, for producing and receiving images documenting the sexual abuse of the child, and for possession of child pornography.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L.
Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Baltimore Field Office; Cecil County State’s Attorney James Dellmyer; and Cecil County Sheriff Scott
Adams.
At his plea hearing, Colby admitted that he and his co-conspirator, Summer McCroskey, sexually
abused a child, starting at the time the victim was approximately four months of age through at least
October 2021, when the victim was two years old, and produced videos and images of the abuse. Both
Colby and McCroskey participated in the abuse. Additionally, Colby received files documenting the
sexual abuse of the child, which were sent to him by McCroskey.
On May 18, 2023, Judge Bennett sentenced co-defendant Summer McCroskey, age 25, also of
Elkton, to 80 years in federal prison for her role in the conspiracy.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in
May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation
and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child
Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources
to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue
victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood.