Police: Elkton man videotaped himself sexually abusing girl, 3

ELKTON — A man remained jailed Tuesday after he allegedly videotaped himself sexually abusing a three-year-old girl who was in his care at an Elkton residence, according to the Elkton Police Department and Cecil County District Court records.

EPD investigators identified the suspect as 28-year-old Andre F. Winston-Canty in a Wednesday (June 11) post on the agency’s Facebook page, along with a notice about his arrest one day earlier.

Winston-Canty is charged with second-degree rape of a child under the age of 14, third-degree sex act involving a child under the age of 14, sex abuse of a minor and child porn relating to the filming of a sex act, court records show. He remained in the Cecil County Detention Center on no bond Tuesday, six days after his bail review in front of Cecil County District Court Administrative Judge Clara E. Campbell, according to court records.

The investigation leading to Winston-Canty’s arrest and the charges against him started on June 10, when EPD detectives went to a residence in an Elkton neighborhood after receiving a report of child sex abuse incident, police reported.

Detectives learned that Winston-Canty’s girlfriend — while going through his cell phone — found a video of him engaging in a sex act with the girl, according to the charging document. She, in turn, informed the girl’s mother of the video, sent the footage to her and instructed the mother to retrieve her daughter from Winston-Canty’s custody, court records show.

The complainants supplied EPD investigators with a copy of the video, according to the charging document, which indicates that Winston-Canty’s face doesn’t appear in the footage. A man’s voice is heard making lewd comments during the sexual assault; however, and the two women identified that voice as being that of Winston-Canty’s, court records allege.

Court records further allege that when Winston-Canty’s girlfriend confronted him about the video, after she already had sent it, he “broke her phone and iPad to keep her from being able to disperse information relevant to the video that she found.”

EPD investigators conducted surveillance outside Winston-Canty’s residence on June 10 and arrested him when he exited the dwelling to leave the property, court records show.

While conducting a court-approved search of Winston-Canty’s residence, investigators found “the same blue/teal towel/cloth that was visible in the video” and collected it as evidence, according to the charging document.

Court records indicate that EPD detectives, at the outset of their investigation, transported the girl to ChristianaCare’s Union Hospital in Elkton, where she received medical attention and where a SAFE kit was completed.

At the end of the June 11 social media post, EPD officials wrote, “We commend the efforts of our Detectives and allied partners at Child Protective Services who were involved in this intense investigation to rescue this child from harm.”