BALTIMORE, MD—A former veteran detective with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office was sentenced Tuesday to 36 years in federal prison for the sexual exploitation of two children, a case that has sent shockwaves through the local law enforcement community.
Ryan Christopher Hall, 51, of Woodstock, Maryland, received the lengthy sentence from U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson. In addition to the prison term, Hall was ordered to undergo lifetime supervised release and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
A Decades-Long Career Masking Abuse
Hall’s sentencing follows his December 2025 guilty plea to charges of sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child sexual abuse material. The details revealed in court documents paint a disturbing picture of a man who spent nearly 30 years in law enforcement while victimizing children in private.
According to prosecutors, Hall’s abuse of two minor children began before May 2017 and continued for at least three years. However, the exploitation extended well into the following decade. From 2017 through October 2024, Hall used a surreptitious camera he had installed to capture explicit images and videos of the victims…