Former Computer Security Specialist Sentenced To Seven Years In Federal Prison For Receiving Child Sexual Abuse Videos Over The Internet

Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced William Marion Patterson, III (49, Jacksonville) to seven years in federal prison for receiving child sexual abuse videos and images over the internet. 

According to court documents, in 2015, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service conducted an undercover online child exploitation investigation of an individual who was using a particular online file-sharing network. At that time, this user, later identified as Patterson, was the most prolific trader of child pornography in the state of Florida on this file-sharing network. On June 11, 2015, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Patterson’s home. During an interview, Patterson admitted, among other things, that he used this file-sharing network and that he was responsible for everything found on his computer. Subsequent forensic analyses revealed that Patterson’s computer media contained approximately 854 videos and 5,394 images depicting young children being sexually abused. 

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 was 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 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.justice.gov/psc.