Maryland State Police Arrest Frederick County Man For Online Sexual Solicitation Of A Minor

(HANOVER, MD) – Maryland State Police, assisted by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, arrested a Frederick County man yesterday on charges related to the online sexual solicitation of a minor.

The accused is identified as Michael Vance Culpepper, 55, of Walkersville, Maryland. Culpepper is charged with one count of sexual solicitation of a minor. He was transported to the Maryland State Police Glen Burnie Barrack for processing.

According to a preliminary investigation, on April 13, 2023, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was conducting an undercover online investigation on a social networking site. The accused, later identified as Culpepper was engaging in an inappropriate text chat with whom he believed was an underage female. Culpepper was engaging in conversation and requesting an in-person meeting with a member of the task force, who was posing as a 13-year-old girl.

The in-person meeting with whom he thought was a minor occurred yesterday afternoon in Anne Arundel County. Culpepper arrived at the agreed-upon location around 1 p.m. where he was subsequently arrested by the Maryland State Police.

The Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Unit coordinates the Maryland Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. This is a combined law enforcement effort involving police departments across Maryland that is made possible in part due to grant funds provided by the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth and Victim Services and by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. Task force investigators focus on identifying those involved in child pornography via the Internet and other related crimes that victimize children.

Michael Vance Culpepper

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CONTACT:    Office of Media Communications, msp.media@maryland.gov