APRIL 2023:
A federal judge has handed out the punishment for a 73 year old man from Lead convicted of Receipt of Child Pornography.
William Jacob Stone was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Between March 2020 and June 2021, Stone used the internet to download visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He then used Adobe PhotoShop software and his Apple iPad to superimpose naked images of himself sexually abusing the child pornography images he had downloaded, as well as clothed photos of local children known to Stone through his decades-long career as a school bus driver. This conduct was brought to the attention of law enforcement through a Cybertip sent by Adobe to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
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 the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox Sazama prosecuted the case.
Stone was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
NOVEMBER 2021:
A Lead man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for receipt of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography.
27 year old William Jacob Stone pleaded not guilty.
The charges relate to Stone receiving and possessing computer images of child pornography between March 2020 and June 2021 in South Dakota. The charges are merely accusations and Stone is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The maximum penalty if convicted is 20 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, up to life of supervised release, and a $100 assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund on each charge. Restitution may also be ordered.
The investigation is a joint effort between Homeland Security Investigations, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Sazama is prosecuting the case.
Stone was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial. A trial date has been set for December 28, 2021.
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