Nixa Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charge

SPRINGFIELD, MO—Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Nixa, Missouri man pleaded guilty in federal court today to receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Charles Williams, 28, of Nixa, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to the charge contained in an August 28, 2012, federal indictment.

By pleading guilty today, Williams 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 September 27, 2011.

According to today’s plea agreement, 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 September 27, 2011, and seized two laptop computers, two cameras, two video game 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 September 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.

Under federal statutes, Williams is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the FBI and the Nixa (Missouri) 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.” For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”