Former Computer Security Specialist Pleads Guilty To Receiving Child Sexual Abuse Videos Over The Internet

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announced today that William Marion Patterson, III (49, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to receiving child sexual abuse videos and images over the Internet.  Patterson, who was previously employed as a computer security contract worker, faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 5 years, up to 20 years, in federal prison.  His sentencing hearing is set for April 26, 2018.      

According to court documents, in 2015, the FBI conducted an undercover online child exploitation investigation of an individual using a file sharing network. At that time, this user was the most prolific trader of child pornography in the state of Florida on this network. The user’s IP address traced back to Patterson’s residence. On June 11, 2015, FBI agents and other law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the home and made contact with Patterson. During an interview, Patterson admitted, among other things, that he had used this file sharing network and that he was responsible for anything found on his computer.  Subsequent forensic analyses revealed that Patterson’s computer media contained approximately 850 videos and 5,390 images depicting children being sexually assaulted. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case 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 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.justice.gov/psc.