Man Guilty Of Animal Cruelty, Awaiting Child Porn Trial

SNOW HILL -- A Berlin man, awaiting trial next week on dozens of counts of possession of child pornography, was found guilty last week on all seven counts of animal cruelty stemming from an incident in August in Berlin. Sentencing is Dec. 6.

On Aug. 24, Berlin Police received a tip that Kirt Greenberg, 45, was in possession of animals in compromised health conditions in direct violation of his probation for an animal cruelty conviction in Salisbury in August 2010. Officers found a total of seven animals in extremely hot conditions in his home and residence.

The Aug. 24 incident was in direct violation of the terms of Greenberg’s probation for an August 2010 incident during which he left six dogs in a vehicle in a mall parking lot in Salisbury in 100-degree-plus heat. Greenberg was found guilty on one count of inflicting animal cruelty in that case and was sentenced to 90 days, all but 30 days of which were suspended. He was also placed on probation for one year and was prohibited from keeping animals.

When officers arrived at Greenberg’s residence in August, they found two cats in a vehicle in 100-degree-plus heat. A search of the residence revealed five more animals in the attic, also in 100-degree-plus heat.

In the August 2010 incident in Salisbury, local police responded to a call from the parking lot at the Centre for dogs secured in a dangerously hot vehicle. Upon arrival, police found six dogs that appeared to be in physical duress due to the heat.

While Greenberg was convicted again on animal cruelty charges last week and awaits sentencing, perhaps the largest case against him is set to get underway next week with his trial on two separate incidents on possession of child pornography.

Based on interviews with a victim who believed Greenberg had videotaped her, WCBI detectives in late February 2010 executed a search and seizure warrant on Greenberg's Berlin home, recovering several computer hard drives that were turned over to the Maryland State Police Computer Crimes unit.

In September 2009, the FBI began a parallel investigation into Greenberg's possible possession and distribution of child pornography. That probe was launched when a special agent had logged into a public website in an undercover capacity and was allegedly invited by Greenberg to join his chat room. Once inside the chat room, the agent was able to download over 500 images of child pornography.