Sex Offender Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Transportation and Possession of Child Pornography

TAMPA, FL—U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces that U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington today sentenced William M. Myers (45, St. Petersburg) to 45 years in federal prison for transportation and possession of child pornography. The court also ordered Myers to forfeit computer equipment and electronic media, which he used in committing the offense. Myers pled guilty on July 7, 2011.

According to court documents, a search warrant was executed at the residence where Myers was living on February 8, 2011. While there, law enforcement authorities found and seized more than 780 images and 440 videos containing child pornography. Myers admitted to authorities that the child pornography belonged to him. Myers also admitted to sharing child pornography with others over the Internet.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney.

It is also a 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 (CEOS), 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.projectsafechildhood.gov. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov and click on the tab “other resources.”