Florida Man Sentenced to More Than 19 Years in Prison for Transportation of Child Pornography

WASHINGTON—Walter Rufus Stanley Waters Jr. of New Port Richey, Fla., was sentenced today to 19 years and seven months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for transportation of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill of the Middle District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Steven E. Ibison of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office.

Waters was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich in Tampa, Fla.

In September 2011, Waters, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of child pornography. According to court documents and proceedings, in August 2010, Waters uploaded multiple images and videos of child pornography to a social networking site. A search warrant was subsequently executed at Waters’s residence. Waters admitted that he downloaded and possessed multiple images of child pornography. He also admitted to uploading the images to various websites.

This case was investigated by the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Andrew M. McCormack of Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Peresie of the Middle District of Florida. The Seattle Police Department provided assistance in the investigation.

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 U.S. attorneys’ offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.