Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts in Houston, Texas

OCTOBER 31, 2006

Dallas County Man Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Child Porn Charge

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that William Lynn Rawls pled guilty this morning in federal court in Dallas, before the Honorable Paul D. Stickney, United States Magistrate Judge, to one count of possession of child pornography in interstate commerce. Rawls, age 51, of Cedar Hill, Texas, faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Rawls has been on bond since his voluntary surrender to federal law enforcement officials in June. He is to be sentenced by United States Senior District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer on February 23, 2007.

The investigation began after Rawls’ co-workers at a mortgage company contacted the FBI when they determined that Rawls possessed a computer containing child pornography. On May 1, 2003, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents executed a federal search warrant in relation to a child pornography investigation of William Lynn Rawls. During the execution of the search warrant at his residence in Cedar Hill, Texas, Rawls arrived home and spoke with agents. He admitted possessing child pornography and showed agents where he kept computer disks that contained hundreds of images of child pornography. Agents seized computer hard drives and more than 100 CD-Roms and floppy diskettes from Rawls’ home which were later determined to contain approximately 1000 images of child pornography.

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