A veteran Harford County Sheriff's deputy faces a number of child sex abuse charges after a now 22-year-old found a camera hidden inside the vent of her home bathroom in Woodbine.
Ryan Christopher Hall, 50, was arrested on Tuesday. The detective who was assigned to the Harford Sheriff's Domestic Violence Unit and has been a 27-year veteran of the force, is now suspended without pay in the wake of the allegations.
Hall Admitted to Installing the Cameras in the Bathroom, Confessed to Watching Child Pornography
A camera found under a bathroom baseboard heater on October 7 uncovered years of child sex abuse material, according to police. Carroll County prosecutors say they recovered more than 1,000 sexually explicit files, some dating back to 2012, when they were underage. Hall reportedly admitted to personally installing the cameras inside the bathroom.
"I did put [the cameras] there because I have a problem," Hall told investigators, according to charging documents. He also confessed to watching child porn since 2008. Other files seized by police depicted random girls as young as 4-years-old, who have no relation to Hall.
Hall Accused of Sexually Abusing the Girls When They were 10 to 12 Years Old
One victim who first discovered the bathroom camera, recalled Hall sexually abusing them when they were 10 to 12-years old. "One of these incidents lasted so long that she remembers a movie starting and ending prior to him ending the abuse," detectives wrote in charging documents obtained by WMAR.
A 21-year-old also remembers being abused by Hall starting at 10 years old. "When I asked Ryan about this, he acknowledged that it happened," investigators wrote in charging documents.The victims said Hall would remove their clothes and inappropriately touch them, police said. One victim recalls hearing a camera shutter during the abuse.
Hall faces two counts of sexual abuse of a minor, two counts of continuing course of conduct with a child, 10 counts of child pornography filming in sex act, and other charges.
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler reacted to the disturbing allegations by issuing this statement. "At this time, we have no information that these crimes were committed with the use of HCSO equipment or during the course of Hall's on duty hours," said Gahler. "I find it both personally and professionally disappointing that someone within our ranks would break that trust and be accused of such heinous acts and crimes. My thoughts go out to the victims in this case."
