MD man sentenced in 2021 child sex abuse case

Listen to this article

A Washington County man was recently given a 14-year active sentence for sexually abusing a preteen girl at a Hagerstown-area home in 2021.

Jose Delacruz Isidro, 54, pleaded guilty on Aug. 11, 2025, to sexual abuse of a minor, according to court documents. As part of the plea deal, a charge of second-degree rape was dropped.

The binding plea agreement came with a sentence of 25 years, with 11 of those years suspended, according to the agreement filed in Washington County Circuit Court.

Judge Brett R. Wilson issued the sentence during a Jan. 7 hearing in circuit court.

Isidro will be registered as a Tier III sex offender, Wilson said.

Isidro was arrested in December 2021 at a Hagerstown address. His Honduran passport identified him as Jose De La Cruz Isidro, according to a court document. Court records list his middle name as both De La Cruz and Delacruz.

Isidro is believed to be an undocumented immigrant based on his own admission, according to charging documents.

Washington County Deputy State’s Attorney Sarah Mollett Gaumer, during the Jan. 7 sentencing hearing, said Isidro would have lifetime registered sex offender supervision once he’s released from prison, should he remain in the U.S.

A translator was in court Jan. 7 to interpret for Isidro during the hearing.

Mollett Gaumer said that because the conviction is for a crime of violence, Isidro would need to serve 50% of his sentence before he could be eligible for parole consideration.

Isidro has credit for 1,129 days time served, Assistant Public Defender Robert Sheehan said. That works out to over three years and a month time-served credit.

A Jose Isidro with the same birth month and year was listed as a state prison inmate on Jan. 15, according to the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services website.

Mollett Gaumer told Wilson that the state recommendation in the case, to reach the binding agreement with the plea and sentence, was primarily based on a desire to let the child continue to heal and move forward.

Isidro had been found incompetent to stand trial in 2023 and 2024, according to his online case docket. At an April 2025 court hearing, he was found competent to stand trial.

The issue of whether a defendant is competent to stand trial refers to a defendant’s ability to assist in their defense and understand legal proceedings.

When released from prison, Isidro will be on supervised probation for five years in addition to the lifetime registered sex offender supervision. He is not to have contact with the victim and is not to have unsupervised contact with minors.

Isidro also is to attend and successfully complete sex offender treatment and have GPS monitoring and routine polygraphing.

Reporting by Julie E. Greene, The Herald-Mail / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.