Nixa Man Sentenced for Child Porn

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Nixa, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Charles Williams, 28, of Nixa, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 10 years and 10 months in federal prison without parole.

Williams, who pleaded guilty on Aug. 7, 2013, admitted that he used peer-to-peer file-sharing program on two laptop computers to download and distribute dozens of videos and photos of child pornography over the Internet from April 9 to Sept. 27, 2011.

A Nixa police officer used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to connect to Williams’ computer over the Internet. The officer located child pornography on the computer and obtained a search warrant for Williams’ residence. Officers executed the search warrant on Sept. 27, 2011, and seized two laptop computers, two cameras, two videogame consoles, 115 CDs/DVDs and a VHS tape. Among the files discovered on one of the laptop computers was a video of a 4-to-5-year-old child being raped by an adult. Williams was arrested on Sept. 27, 2011.

Investigators conducted an examination of Williams’ computers and found 52 incomplete or partially downloaded videos of child pornography, 29 saved videos of child pornography, eight videos of child pornography in the recycle bin and 13 images of child pornography.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the FBI and the Nixa, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."