Midstate man who paid to watch live video of sex acts performed on kids sentenced to prison

A Johnson County man who paid to watch live video of sex acts being performed on children in the Philippines has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

William “Hutch” Ledford, 40, pleaded guilty to a federal child pornography charge in June.

Ledford, who was sentenced during a Tuesday hearing at the federal courthouse in Dublin, will receive credit for the nearly 15 months he’s already been jailed, said his attorney Mitchell Warnock Jr.

Warnock said he and the prosecution asked the judge to use his discretion to issue a sentence less than the 15-year mandatory minimum for the charge.

“We were pleased that the judge came below the mandatory 15 years,” he said.

In a sentencing memorandum filed with the court, Warnock said his client worked in the Information Technology department at Swainsboro Technical College and performed computer work for the Wrightsville police for free. He also worked with the fire departments of Johnson and Emanuel counties to recover security camera footage and data to help identify how fires were started.

Ledford live-streamed the Johnson County High School football team’s games and ran the scoreboard for home games.

Never having had a girlfriend or a romantic relationship, Ledford spent most of his free time in the cyber world, Warnock wrote.

Ledford wrote a letter to the judge some time ago and expressed remorse for his actions.

In his letter — also filed in the court record — Ledford said he “felt horrible” about what he was doing and most of the time wouldn’t finish watching or downloading the pornographic videos.

“I would most of the time break down in tears about it, and ask the good Lord to forgive me for what I’ve done,” Ledford wrote, saying he also prayed that God would kill him if he touched someone inappropriately.

He apologized for emotional pain he’s caused his loved ones and said he was trying to change his life and online habits before his arrest.

Buying pornography

The memorandum also describes how Ledford obtained pornography:

Ledford had several Yahoo accounts and used Yahoo Messenger to talk with women in the Philippines who offered him pornography and child “shows” in exchange for money.

Warnock wrote that Ledford naively thought the women were only providing the pornography and child shows for him. At some point, he became suspicious that he was being scammed and that the women might be offering the same services to others.

Ledford convinced the women to give him passwords to their Yahoo accounts, accessed the accounts and later changed the passwords so the women could no longer use the accounts. He also gave PayPal and Western Union the account names and said they were being used to distribute child pornography.

The Yahoo E-Crime Investigations Team launched a probe and later notified police.

Ledford cooperated with investigators when a search warrant was served at his home, providing passwords to his accounts and admitting he received child pornography via email and that he watched live webcam sessions of child pornography.

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Midstate man who paid to watch live video of sex acts performed on kids sentenced to prison."