Advertisement

Clearwater man sentenced for child porn possession

 
Published Nov. 4, 2016

TAMPA — A Clearwater man was sentenced to eight years in federal prison on Thursday for possessing and transporting thousands of images of child pornography.

William Lauman, 27, faces another 15 years of supervision after his release from prison and will be required to register as a sex offender.

Authorities with the Department of Justice say Lauman downloaded and possessed more than 1,500 videos and another 50,000 images depicting children, including infants, engaged in sex acts with adults.

"Downloading sexually explicit images and videos of young children creates lifelong scars for victims and enables perpetrators around the globe to continuously exploit those same innocent youths," said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Tampa.

The investigation was carried out as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national effort started by the Department of Justice in 2006 to combat child abuse and sexual exploitation.