A Thurmont man already facing an assault charge is now accused of child pornography offenses following a separate investigation by local police.
The Thurmont Police Department originally investigated an alleged assault involving a juvenile female at a Thurmont business in November 2025. Investigators identified 74-year-old Byron Ward Rice as the suspect, and he was served with a criminal summons in December charging him with second-degree assault.
Several months later, in March 2026, the department’s Criminal Investigation Division received information from an anonymous source alleging Rice possessed child pornography. Detectives investigated the claims and identified multiple files containing child pornography linked to Rice’s computer devices and online accounts. On May 6, Rice was served with a criminal summons charging him with seven counts of accessing and viewing child pornography.
By: Dianah Gibson
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