North Platte Man Sentenced to 9 Years for Distributing Child Pornography

William L. Jones, 31, of North Platte, Nebraska, was sentenced in federal court in Lincoln for conspiring to distribute child pornography.  The Honorable Richard G. Kopf, Senior United States District Court Judge, sentenced Jones to 9 years of imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.  After his release from prison, Jones will begin a ten-year term of supervised release.

Jones’s girlfriend, Rayanne Paulman, sent a number of sexually explicit images of prepubescent children over Facebook messenger to Jones.  A search warrant was executed at their residence on December 11, 2015.  Forensic analysis of the digital devices revealed six videos of child pornography.  Some of these images had been distributed between Jones and Paulman.  In addition to the images, text messages were exchanged.  Those messages involved discussions about the child pornography and other messages discussed certain children known to the two of them that they could sexually abuse.  Paulman was sentenced on October 13, 2016.  She also received a sentence of 9 years and 10 years of supervised release.

This case was investigated by the North Platte Police Department.

This case 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 (CEOS), 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.