Syracuse Man Sentenced to Over 21 Years for Receiving Child Pornography from Multiple Minors via Snapchat

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - William Futrell, age 31, of Syracuse, was sentenced today to serve over 21 years (262 months) in federal prison following his previous conviction for ten counts of receipt of child pornography. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Erin Keegan, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations, Buffalo Field Office, and New York State Police (NYSP) Superintendent Steven G. James made the announcement.

As part of his previous guilty plea, Futrell admitted that he used Snapchat to communicate with minors from across the country. In some instances, Futrell would offer to pay the minor children to entice them to send explicit images to him, but with no intention of ever paying them. On at least the 10 occasions charged, Futrell obtained, directly from minor children, images depicting the children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Futrell is a registered sex offender with a previous conviction for possession of child pornography in New York.

Chief United States District Judge Brenda K. Sannes also ordered that Futrell serve a 15-year term of post-incarceration supervised release. Futrell will be required to register as a sex offender after his release from prison.

United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led the investigation with the assistance of the NYSP Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the NYSP Troop D Computer Crime Unit. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Tuck prosecuted Futrell as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney's Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.