Former Monticello LPN Sentenced in Child Pornography Case

LITTLE ROCK—Jane W. Duke, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Valerie Parlave, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced William John Burton, age 52, of Monticello, Arkansas, was sentenced by United States District Judge William R. Wilson to 84 months’ imprisonment followed by 10 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography.

“In order to effectively combat the sexual abuse of children, we must attack both the supply and demand side of the child pornography industry,” stated Duke. “Through operations such as this, we are able to locate, investigate, and prosecute large numbers of individuals who frequent commercial websites to purchase illicit images of minors. At the same time, we are targeting the predators with their hands on the cameras creating the images, as well as the operators of Internet sites where the pictures and videos are sold. This two-pronged approach is highly successful and is enabling authorities to better address this widespread problem.”

In 2008, FBI agents received information that over 200 child pornography websites processed their payments through an Internet website named “iWest.” The agents reviewed thousands of iWest transactions, which contained the purchaser’s identifying information. The records reflected that between November 14, 2006, and April 17, 2007, Burton made nine successful purchases for access to child pornography sites.

As part of the investigation, an undercover server sent e-mails advertising access to child pornography websites to the purchasers on the spreadsheet. If a purchaser responded, the IP address was recorded and the purchaser would be redirected to a website that contained a message asking that they return to the site later due to high volume of traffic on the site. On June 26, 2008, Burton made two attempts to access the link to the child pornography websites. He was subsequently interviewed by the FBI and admitted viewing various types of online pornography. Burton consented to a search of his computer. A forensic examination of Burton’s computer revealed over 4,000 images of child pornography.

The case is a result of an investigation by Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Marsha W. Clevenger prosecuted this case for the United States.