SPRINGDALE MAN SENTENCED TO 70 YEARS FOR PRODUCTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 30, 2012 |
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Fayetteville, Arkansas- Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced today that William Cannon of Springdale, was sentenced today to 70 years imprisonment for production and receipt of child pornography. Chief United States District Court Judge Jimm Larry Hendren conducted the sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Fayetteville. Cannon admitted to producing two videos of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor female, downloading images of child pornography from the internet, hanging images of nude children throughout his residence and displaying signs with messages threatening children in multiple rooms in his residence.
United States Attorney Conner Eldridge commented, “These crimes are reprehensible and horrendous. The Defendant has been held accountable for them and sentenced to a lengthy term in prison. We will continue to aggressively prosecute those who pose a threat to our children.”
"ICE HSI will aggressively use its investigative authorities to identify and arrest individuals who seek to sexually exploit children in this manner," said Raymond R. Parmer, Jr., special agent in charge of ICE HSI in New Orleans. "HSI is committed to protecting our communities by bringing to justice these child predators, who are a direct threat to our youth." Parmer oversees responsibility for the states of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.
According to court documents, on July 14, 2010, officers from the Springdale Police Department responded to a call from a City Fire Marshal, who reported that he had discovered a child pornography operation while doing a routine fire inspection. Upon arrival, officers were told by the fire marshal that he discovered several nude to partially nude images of adolescent boys hanging from the walls, along with overtly sexual handmade signs. The subsequent police investigation resulted in the execution of a search warrant at the establishment. Pursuant to the search warrant, police seized computers, camera equipment, video cassettes, children’s clothing, several toy dolls in various forms of bondage, and hand made signs depicting messages such as “boy sex,” “kill little boys” and “I eat boys.”
During a post-Miranda interview, the defendant stated that he was the only person who had access to this room and that he hung the nude/partially nude images of children in this room. Further, the defendant acknowledged filming and producing the videos found in the room of a minor female engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
On July 7, 2011, Cannon pleaded guilty to two counts of Production of Child Pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251(a) and (e), and two counts of Receipt of Child Pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(2) and (b)(1). Following the pronouncement of Cannon’s sentence, Judge Hendren ordered Cannon to pay $25,000 in fines and serve a life term of supervised release.
This case was investigated by the Springdale Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted this case for the United States.
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