Who was Jonathan Newell? Wiki, Biography, Age, Kills Himself Moments Before Arrest for Child Sex Abuse

Caroline County Circuit Judge Jonathan Newell had been on leave since July after being caught up in an investigation on allegations that he had a hidden camera that captured images of naked children in his bathroom. When FBI agents showed up at his door Friday morning to arrest him on a federal criminal complaint, they found him “suffering an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” the Maryland Federal Attorney’s Office announced Friday. He was pronounced dead at 6:43 a.m.

A Maryland judge committed suicide Friday morning, just as the feds showed up at his Henderson home to arrest him in a child sexual abuse case. Maryland State Police will lead the investigation into the apparent suicide,” prosecutors said in a Press release Friday evening.

Jonathan Newell Age

Judge Jonathan Newell was 50 years old.

Judge Jonathan Newell Killed himself Moments Before Arrest for Child Sex Abuse

On Friday, Newell’s neighbor, Kimberly Keith, posted photos on Facebook which appeared to show FBI agents stationed outside the judge’s house demanding over a loudspeaker that he comes out. She wrote that she heard sounds that she believed were gunshots, followed shortly after by an ambulance.

The suicide occurred as Newell was to be taken into custody on federal charges of sexual exploitation of a child, prosecutors said. He had been on leave from his court work since the police first raided his home on July 24 and had extended that leave until the end of this month, the Baltimore Sun reported.

According to a copy of the criminal complaint released Friday, Maryland State Police investigators responded in July to a call about a minor who found a video camera in the bathroom of Newell’s cabin in Fishing Creek, Maryland. Investigators interviewed two children, both minors, who said they had “spent the night” with Newell on July 22, when they allegedly discovered a hidden camera.

One of the children told investigators that after undressing in the bathroom he found a camera that was turned on and facing the shower inside a small black box on a shelf in the corner of the bathroom. After telling the other boy about the camera he had discovered, the two boys boarded Newell’s boat and both told their parents about the camera in the bathroom, according to the documents. Subsequently, his parents contacted the police.

The boy who discovered the camera also said that another adult man and four children had spent the night in the cabin and left that morning. When confronted with police, Newell denied placing a camera in the bathroom or noticing the presence of a camera, saying, “Like I said, there were six other people here.”

While being interviewed by investigators, Newell allegedly chewed and swallowed a memory card from the camera, after asking to charge his phone and then appearing to be reaching under his bed and picking up an object in his fist which he then shoved into his mouth. . A CT scan later showed that he had ingested a foreign object, possibly metallic, according to the complaint.

During their investigation, authorities interviewed seven other teenagers, born between 2002 and 2007, about their relationship with Newell. According to the complaint, most of the teens told investigators they had known Newell for years, some from elementary school. The teens described taking a shower at Newell’s home or cabin, with nearly all saying that “while in the bathroom, Newell would check their bodies for ticks,” according to the complaint.

“At least two of the males said they were naked when Newell checked them for ticks; one said that he moved his own genitals to make Newell look for ticks, and the other initially did not remember whether Newell touched his genitals, but later claimed that Newell moved the child’s genitalia once or twice to look for ticks, “the complaint says.

Authorities executed state search warrants for Newell’s cabin and home in Henderson, Maryland, as well as his truck, boat and office, where they discovered and seized multiple digital devices, according to the complaint.

During their search, authorities discovered a hard drive that contained several videos of young men showering that appear to date back to September 2014, according to the titles of some of the videos. Newell is also captured in some of the images that organize the camera. According to the complaint, Newell can also be seen in a video touching the naked body of a young man and spreading his buttocks.

According to the SunBefore, his Facebook page was deactivated after the police raid, a series of posts about mentoring children included images from the campaign, the hunting lodge, and the wrestling matches. the Sun noted that in a March 2020 post, Newell discussed interaction with a 13-year-old neighbor during the pandemic and his belief that children “especially need physical contact.”

“Usually to cheer him up, I would have teased him, patted him on the shoulder, tousled his sweaty hair, and maybe even sent him on his way with a little pat on the butt,” Newell wrote according to Article. Sun. “I think children especially need physical contact – nibbling, prodding, plucking, it’s part of the way they communicate with each other and show affection, even if it occasionally leads to a fight.”

In 2016, Newell, a Republican, was appointed as a Caroline County Sole Circuit Court Judge by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. He held that position in 2018 and served a 15-year term before committing suicide.

If you or a loved one is struggling with suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Line at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Text Line Crisis Line by texting TALK to 741741 .