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A Swansboro man was sentenced September 6, 2022 to 500 months of imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervised release for producing and distributing child pornography, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of North Carolina. William Thomas Bailey, 42, pleaded guilty to the charges on January 4, 2022.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Bailey was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security in early 2018 after being identified as part of an online group trading child pornography. “An email address belonging to Bailey was used to trade child pornography with multiple users in addition, agents discovered an email where Bailey bragged to someone about sexually abusing a very young child,” stated the press release.

“During the execution of a search warrant over 300 images and videos of child sexual abuse were discovered on his cell phone. In addition, there were 11 images and 1 video depicting the sexual abuse of a 2-year-old toddler created using Bailey’s cell phone,” stated the press release. “Agents were able to identify the child as someone with whom Bailey had direct contact. During the forensic analysis of Bailey’s phone, agents discovered that Bailey had distributed the child’s images and video multiple times to others seeking out child pornography.”

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after the sentencing was concluded. U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle presided over the sentencing. The Department of Homeland Security investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Charity Wilson prosecuted.

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