NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BETH PHILLIPS

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov../index.html

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD

BLUE SPRINGS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD EXPLOITATION,

FACES 15 YEARS IN PRISON

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Blue Springs, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to inducing a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the production of child pornography.

            William M. Brown, 30, of Blue Springs, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays this afternoon to the charge contained in an April 8, 2010, federal indictment.

            On May 12, 2008, Brown’s wife viewed a DVD she obtained from his backpack. The DVD contained images of Brown engaging in sex with a 16-year-old female while inside a vehicle. When his wife then made a three-way call to Brown and her father, Brown stated he was going to commit suicide and officers with the Blue Springs, Mo., Police Department were called and took Brown into custody.

            When the child victim was interviewed at the Child Protection Center, she disclosed that Brown began making sexual advances toward her when she was 12 years old. When the child victim was 13, Brown began having sexual intercourse with her and took photos of her. This continued for several years; when she was 15 years old, the victim said, Brown gave her a cell phone and instructed her to send him pornographic photos of herself. In May 2008, Brown told the child victim to sneak out of her house in the middle of the night. He picked her up in his vehicle and they drove to an area near her house; while inside the vehicle, they engaged in sexual intercourse. Brown videotaped the entire encounter.

            Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, the government and Brown agree to request a sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

            This case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips. It was investigated by the Blue Springs, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood

            This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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 better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

http://www.justice.gov../index.html