KANSAS CITY, Mo. – David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Blue Springs, Mo., man who is a registered sex offender was indicted by a federal grand jury today for producing child pornography.

This is the first prosecution in the Western District of Missouri under a federal statute that classifies violent crimes against children. The statute mandates a life sentence if a defendant with a prior sex conviction (in which the victim was a child) is convicted of a federal sex offense in which the victim was a child.

William G. Weiss, 39, of Blue Springs, was charged in a four-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City.

Today’s indictment alleges that Weiss used a minor, identified as Jane Doe, to produce child pornography on three separate occasions between April 28 and June 16, 2011. The indictment also charges Weiss with committing those offenses at times when he was required to register as a sex offender.

Weiss has two prior felony convictions for attempted statutory sodomy. If convicted, therefore, Weiss would be subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of life in federal prison without parole on each of the three counts of producing child pornography. Weiss would also be subject to a mandatory consecutive sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole if convicted of committing a sex felony crime involving a minor by a registered sex offender.

Ketchmark cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore. It was investigated by the Lee’s Summit, 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."

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