The Democratic mayor of a college town outside Washington, D.C., was arrested Thursday for possession and distribution of child pornography.
College Park, Md., mayor Patrick Wojahn faces 56 counts of child pornography distribution and possession, NBC News reported. Police detailed "40 counts of possession of child exploitative material and 16 counts of distribution of child exploitative material."
The mayor, who lists his pronouns in his Twitter bio, resigned after police obtained a warrant to search his home. In his resignation letter, Wojahn, who has served as mayor since 2015, said he is stepping down to address his "mental health."
On February 17, police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a suspicious account on the social media app Kik. The NCMEC flagged posts from the account "skippy_md" which depicted "explicit sexual acts involving prepubescent boys and adult men," the Washington Post reported. Wojahn cooperated with police and confirmed that he owned the account.
Wojahn is just the latest Democrat to be charged with child sex crimes. Last year, former Biden campaign surrogate Jerry Harris was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor and soliciting sexual images from a child.
Child pornography is on the rise, according to the trafficking prevention group The Demand Project.
"Nationally, there has been a 2500 percent increase in arrests in the past 10 years," according to the group.