Distributor of Child Pornography Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

LITTLE ROCK—Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced William Jennings Bryant Axsom, II, age 67, of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was sentenced by United States District Judge D. Price Marshall, Jr. to 180 months’ imprisonment, followed by supervised release for life, on Axsom’s second federal conviction for distribution and possession of child pornography.

In 2003, Axsom was convicted of trafficking in child pornography and was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment in the Eastern District of Arkansas. He was released from the Bureau of Prisons in April 2005 and completed his term of supervised release in April 2008.

Based on information of child pornography sharing received from Colorado authorities in early 2010, the Little Rock Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation applied for a federal search warrant of Axsom’s house in Pine Bluff. The search warrant was executed on June 29, 2010, with assistance from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Numerous computers and various types of media were seized from Axsom’s residence. A subsequent forensic examination revealed over 250 images of child pornography located on the computer equipment.

The matter was prosecuted federally pursuant to Project Safe Childhood, a 2006 Department of Justice initiative aimed at combating the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Through the Project Safe Childhood initiative, United States Attorneys Offices across the country are directed to work with all levels of law enforcement—federal, state, and local—to aggressively investigate and prosecute Internet child predators.

The case is a result of an investigation by the FBI, with assistance from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Marsha W. Clevenger prosecuted this case for the United States.