Local Magician signs plea agreement in child sex case
Howard Scott Kalin, the Baltimore County magician who was arrested in Florida on a charge of seeking sex from a child, has signed a plea agreement with prosecutors.
The Orlando Sentinel reports:
A Baltimore balloon entertainer faces up to 10 years in prison after signing a plea agreement in which he admitted traveling to Lake County for sex with a 14-year-old boy he found through an Internet personal ad.
Here is some background from our story in May:
A 47-year-old attorney and magician who runs a children's entertainment company in Baltimore County was arrested Monday and charged with flying to Florida to have sex with a 14-year-old boy, who turned out to be an undercover detective, according to police. Howard Scott Kalin, who lives in the 1700 block of Anne Ave. in Essex, was being held without bail by the Lake County, Fla., Sheriff's Office.
Police said he runs Funhouse Entertainment, in the 2200 block of York Road in Lutherville. Members of the Lake County Sheriff's Office cybercrime division said in a statement that Kalin contacted them in January through an Internet chat line, using the name "Ben Aldridge."
The detectives posed as both a 14-year-old boy and the boy's caregiver, the police statement said. The court document also says the suspect talked with undercover police about encounters with other children, but it does not indicate whether they were connected with his entertainment business.
Categories: Baltimore County, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere
