Calvert Co. man arrested as part of child pornography investigation

By Matthew Delaney
February 11, 2023 | 2:28 PM

A man from Calvert County, Maryland, was arrested by state police Thursday for possessing child pornography, according to authorities.

Maryland State Police said that they charged 38-year-old Ernest Drew Phillips, of Saint Leonard, with three counts of possession of child pornography and related charges. He is currently being held without bond at the Calvert County Detention Center.

Phillips was taken into custody after members of the state police’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force served him a search and seizure warrant at his home. Investigators said they found “multiple child pornography files” during a preliminary review of his electronic devices.

The suspect came on law enforcement’s radar in December after Maryland State Police’s Computer Crimes Unit obtained child pornography files that were being distributed online.

School bus emergency? Fairfax County students have a plan to handle it

By Heather Gustafson
August 21, 2026 | 10:05 PM

This story is part of WTOP’s 2026 Back to School coverage. The wheels on the bus will soon be going round and round again in Fairfax County, Virginia, and some of its young riders are learning what to do if there’s an emergency on the way to school. The annual Safety Patrol Training Camp, hosted by Fairfax County Public Schools' Office of Transportation Services, combined hands-on exercises with classroom lessons to teach students how to keep calm during emergencies on buses. The training can feel remarkably realistic, with overturned school buses on their side or completely upside down in the middle of the county bus depot. Other buses, right side up, fill with smoke that is water-based but mimics the intensity of a bus overheating.

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