A Maryland man who was elected as a delegate for Donald Trump to the Republican National Convention has been charged with creation and possession of child pornography and possession of an illegal gun and explosives.
A federal grand jury indicted Caleb Bailey on Wednesday, following an investigation led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives according to court records.
The indictment alleges between March 2015 and this past January, Bailey attempted to use and did use a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce child pornography.
The investigation began in February when Caleb Bailey shipped a package to a person in Wisconsin, but it ruptured open at a postal facility in Capital Heights, Maryland, according to a federal criminal complaint. Postal officials called ATF agents to the scene to investigate the package.
They found it contained 119 rounds of .50 caliber cartridges with incendiary projectiles, which are regulated as explosives, and 200 rounds of spotting projectiles, which also contained an explosive charge, according to the affidavit.
When the package did not arrive, according to an ATF affidavit filed in court, Bailey, using a false name, called the post office twice inquiring about its status and gave a tracking number that matched the parcel in which the explosives were found.
The Maryland Board of Elections lists Bailey as a District 5 delegate to the Republican National Convention supporting Trump. A U.S. law enforcement official confirmed that the Bailey elected as delegate was the same person arrested.
Lawyers for Bailey declined to comment.
“We strongly condemn these allegations and leave it in the capable hands of law enforcement. He will be replaced immediately,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks told CNN.
Authorities said neither Bailey nor the intended recipient, an unnamed owner of a firearms store in Wisconsin, have a federal explosives license to manufacture or distribute explosives.
Law enforcement arranged a meeting with Bailey earlier this month, but he did not show. On that same day, according to the affidavit, search warrants were executed at properties associated with Bailey, including his residence.
“Bailey was present during at least part of the searches. Bailey made certain admissions to law enforcement, including that he had shipped the recovered package,” stated the affidavit.
During the search authorities also recovered guns and other ammunition and they searched his computer and found suspected child pornography, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.
Hundreds of illegal weapons, including machine guns, were found inside a bunker below the garage in Bailey’s home, a U.S. official briefed on the investigation said. The bunker was lined with shelves storing firearms and explosives. ATF agents also found gambling and other equipment in the home, the official said.
Bailey’s father refused to comment to CNN earlier this month after his son was first arrested and could not be reached Thursday.
