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Press Release

St. Petersburg Man Sentenced To Twelve Years For Child Pornography Offenses

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida

Fort Myers, Florida – United States District Judge John E. Steele has sentenced William G. Roberts (55, St. Petersburg) to 12 years in federal prison for receiving, possessing, and distributing child pornography. The Court also ordered him to serve a life term of supervision following his release from prison, and to register as a sex offender. Roberts pleaded guilty on December 11, 2014.

According to court documents, Roberts sought out and caused a nine-year-old child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing videos of the explicit conduct. The child was directed by Roberts to upload the requested videos to his private YouTube account. The child’s mother discovered the explicit videos and chats and contacted police. Subsequent investigation by law enforcement identified Roberts as the individual with whom the child had been communicating.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Child Exploitation Unit and the Cape Coral Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tama Koss Caldarone.

This 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 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.justice.gov/psc.

Updated March 17, 2015

Topic
Project Safe Childhood