HOUSTON - William George Gammon, 50, a Houston attorney, has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes also ordered him to pay $125,000 in restitution to each of the three victims in addition to $3000 in legal fees. Upon completion of his prison term, Gammon will serve a life term of supervised release.

The investigation began when the Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Cybercrimes Center identified a commercial child pornography website. In November 2008, an undercover agent accessed and paid to join the website after which agents executed a federal search warrant on the server and recovered log files. The log files included e-mail addresses of subscribers and one of the user’s e-mail addresses was linked to Gammon. In January 2009, an undercover agent paid for a second membership to the website and in February 2009, agents again executed a federal search warrant on the server and recovered log files which was found to contain an e-mail address linked to Gammon.

On Nov. 20, 2009, agents executed a federal search warrant at Gammon’s residence with him present. Gammon, a practicing civil attorney, admitted to federal agents that he recognized the name of the child pornography website and admitted to purchasing a membership to it. During a search, agents found a small, locked safe which Gammon opened for them. Inside the safe, agents found a notepad with notes referencing child pornography websites.

A forensic exam was done on the seized items and images of child pornography were found on two Dell laptops found in Gammon’s house. Approximately 9,271 images and 101 videos of child pornography were found on the two computers. Gammon pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of possession of child pornography on May 23, 2011.

Gammon was arrested in June 2010 and has been on bond since his arrest. He will be allowed to voluntarily surrender to a Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Stabe and investigated by ICE-HSI, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.