Former Md. police officer gets 5 years on child porn charge

A former Anne Arundel County police lieutenant has been sentenced to five years in prison on a child pornography charge.

Forty-seven-year-old James Cifala pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography after he was caught “sexting” with a teenage girl. Federal prosecutors say Cifala asked the girl to send him sexually explicit pictures of herself via cell phone.

Prosecutors also say a search of Cifala’s computer revealed images of child pornography that were unrelated to the victim.

According to his plea agreement, Cifala started a relationship with the girl in 2007, when she was 14 and he was 44. They began having sex after she turned 16, and communicated on a prepaid cell phone he bought for her.