Man Convicted In iPod Porn Case

For the first time in Eastern Oklahoma, a person has been convicted of having child pornography on an iPod.  The man from Claremore, 31 year old William Woods, will spend more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to the crime.  The News On 6's crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports prosecutors say Woods had moved out of his place and left some things behind, including his i-Pod.

His former roommate found the sexually explicit videos of young children on the iPod and turned it over to police.

Cops say it all the time, every time some cool technology comes along, like an iPod, someone will find a way to use it for evil.  Most people download music videos to their iPods, but federal prosecutors say a Claremore man put something on there, much more sinister.  There were pictures of little kids, some as young as five, doing sex acts with each other and also with adults.

"A child is damaged anytime they, even if not acts are involved, just being posed in a lewd or lascivious manner or photographed in a lewd and lascivious manner," said U.S. Attorney David O'Melia.

Prosecutors are really cracking down on child porn cases since the inception of the U.S. Justice Department's Project Safe Childhood.  It was created because technology and the internet make it so much easier for pedophiles to exploit children.

It's a double whammy.  Technology makes it easier to make child porn now and easier to share.  They say it doesn't matter whether it's on your iPod or anything else.

"It could be just a photograph, be a photograph produced on another photograph. Doesn't make any difference where they get it, how they get it, if they are in possession of child pornography, it's a crime," said U.S. Attorney David O'Melia.

They say child pornography leads to other crimes against children, like having sex with them.  People are often shocked by this type of criminal because they are neighbors and professionals, people we trust.

"If you'll recall, we had a female teacher who drove from Missouri to Oklahoma to attempt to have sex with a 14-year-old boy," said U.S. Attorney David O'Melia.

William Woods' seven and a half year prison sentence will be exactly that because at the federal level there is no parole.

Related Story:

05/01/2008 Man Sentenced To Prison For Child Porn On iPod