BERLIN, Md. - A 38-year-old former daycare worker from Berlin has been sentenced to 49 years in prison on sex abuse of a minor and child pornography charges.
The Worcester County State's Attorney's Office said that on Friday, Oct. 21, Bruce William Travers was sentenced to serve a total of 105 years in prison for his conviction on three counts of sex abuse of a minor and three counts of manufacturing child pornography. Travers pleaded guilty to these offenses on July 12, and Worcester County Circuit Court Judge Brian D. Shockley ordered a psycho-sexual evaluation prior to sentencing.
At sentencing, the court suspended 56 years of the sentence, meaning that Travers will spend 49 years behind bars. If released, Travers will be on five years of supervised probation with conditions requiring that he register as a lifetime sex offender, have no unsupervised contact with minors, and not lead or participate in any youth groups to include educational, religious, or sports groups.
The charges originated when the Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Unit received a referral from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the possible possession of child pornography. The cybertip revealed information about the reported user which was traced back to Travers’ home by investigators. Detectives with the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation obtained a search warrant which was executed on Aug. 20, 2021 and seized multiple pieces of evidence, including electronics, thumb drives, camera memory cards, and several articles of children’s clothing. The electronic devices contained numerous images of child pornography.
Once investigators were able to identify several juveniles depicted in the images, they requested child protective services workers conduct forensic interviews with the victims at the CRICKET Center, Worcester County’s child advocacy center. Following these interviews, Travers was charged with more than 80 offenses.
Travers reportedly worked at several area daycare centers and in county schools as recently as spring of 2021 until a crime tip led to his arrest in August of that same year.
