Former University of Kentucky Faculty Member Sentenced

A former employee of the University of Kentucky’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has been sentenced to 66 months in prison for downloading child pornography images onto his work-issued computer.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell sentenced 60 year-old Neil Mason Williams for receipt of child pornography.  Under federal law, Williams will have to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence.  Following his release from prison, Williams will be under the supervision of U.S. Probation Office for 20 years and he will have restricted access to a computer during this time period.

Williams pleaded guilty to the charge in December of last year, admitting that he used a file sharing program to download thousands of images of child pornography onto his work computer.  The investigation started in February 2014, when staff members from the Information Technology Department noticed files downloaded on Williams’ computer that appeared to contain child pornography.

Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Howard S. Marshall, Special Agent in Charge, FBI; Jack Conway, Kentucky Attorney General; and Ray Larson, Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney, jointly announced the sentence today.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the University of Kentucky Police Department, and the Office of the Kentucky Attorney General.  Assistant U.S. Attorney David Marye, prosecuted the case on behalf of the federal government.