Columbia Man Gets 9 Years For Human Trafficking Case

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (AP/WJZ) — A Columbia man was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison for sex crimes against a minor, prosecutors said.

Timothy Ford, 40, was sentenced to 25 years with all but nine years suspended for a 2019 incident in Columbia, the Howard County State's Attorney Office announced in a news release. Ford pleaded guilty last year to human trafficking and filming a child engaged in a sex act.

The victim was panhandling when Ford approached and asked if he was looking for work. Once in the car, Ford told him he could earn hundreds of dollars if he engaged in sexual acts with other people. Instead, the victim said Ford took him to his home and sexually assaulted him, prosecutors said.

Investigators with Howard County Police identified Ford as the suspect and arrested him about a week later. Ford was charged in November 2019.

As part of his sentencing, Ford must complete a psycho-sexual evaluation and treatment, sex offender treatment, have no contact with the victim, have no unsupervised contact with minors and must register as a Tier II sex offender.