Maryland State Police Arrest Annapolis Man, 78, For Sexual Solicitation Of A Minor

Maryland State Police arrested a man Wednesday on charges he solicited sex from an undercover trooper who was posing as a child over the Internet in Anne Arundel County.

Richard Lenham, 78, of Annapolis, Maryland, is charged with one count of sexual solicitation of a minor. He was transported to the Anne Arundel County Detention Center where he is being held without bond.

According to a preliminary investigation, a trooper with the Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Unit on Thursday was monitoring an online dating application while posing as a 14-year-old male. Lenham initiated an online conversation with the goal of soliciting a sexual encounter with the minor.

The suspect suggested meeting with whom he thought was the minor that day in Annapolis, Maryland. According to a preliminary investigation, Lenham arrived at that location at about 1:25 p.m. Maryland State Police, with assistance from a special agent assigned to the FBI’s Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force, arrested the suspect at the scene.