December 7, 2007

Western Maryland man sentenced to 50 years for sexually exploiting minor girls to produce pornography

BALTIMORE, Md. - A Crespatown, Md., man was sentenced today to 50 years in prison for two counts of sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography after an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). William Edward Wray, II, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett 50 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, announced Rod J. Rosenstein United States Attorney for the District of Maryland and James A. Dinkins, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Baltimore Office of Investigations.

According to the court documents and the guilty plea, on Jan. 27, 2007, Wray sexually exploited a minor female to produce a photograph of her engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Between November 2002 and November 2004, Wray sexually exploited another minor female in order to produce videos of her engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

"Criminals who sexually exploit children are the worst of the worst. Not only do they rob children of their innocence, but they often scar them for life," said ICE Special Agent in Charge Dinkins. In this case, Wray will pay for his crimes for the next 50 years."

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, "This lengthy sentence resulted from federal and state law enforcement working together in Maryland to protect children from sexual abuse. William Wray repeatedly abused two children for years, and he took videos and photographs of the abuse. Mr. Wray also collected photographs of children being abused by other pedophiles. If Mr. Wray completes his sentence and is released from prison, he will be supervised by a law enforcement officer for the rest of his life."

According to court documents, law enforcement officers searched Wray's residence on March 9, 2007, and seized numerous hard drives, several hundred pieces of removable media, a digital video camera, several Polaroid images of child pornography and two videotapes of Wray engaging in sexually explicit behavior with minor children, including the two victims. When officers entered Wray's residence, his computer was operating on a file sharing program, distributing his collection of child pornography to other individuals through the Internet. Wray distributed, received or possessed over 600 images of child pornography, including sadistic or masochistic violence involving prepubescent minors.

This case is part of Operation Predator, ICE's comprehensive initiative to safeguard children from pedophiles, international sex tourists, Internet child pornographers, and human traffickers. Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 10,100 individuals nationwide. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1 (866) DHS-2ICE. Investigators staff this hotline around the clock. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or online at: http://www.cybertipline.com.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Combined County Criminal Investigation Unit located in Allegany County, Md., for their investigative work.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE comprises four integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423.

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