NM man sentenced to 6 ½ years in federal prison for possessing, receiving child pornography

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A New Mexico man was sentenced Thursday to 6 ½ years in federal prison and 15 years of supervised release following his child pornography conviction.

Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated this case.

William Allen Patterson, 34, from Alamogordo, New Mexico, must also register as a sex offender after he completes his sentence. Patterson was arrested Aug. 10, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with possessing and receiving visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity from 2002 to 2012, and on Aug. 10, 2016, in Otero County, New Mexico.

This investigation began in August 2016 after Patterson admitted to a polygraph examiner that he was addicted to child pornography. He was undergoing a polygraph examination as part of the job application process to be a U.S. Border Patrol agent. On Aug. 9, 2016, law enforcement searched Patterson’s residence and found a hard drive containing at least 10,000 images of child pornography.  On Jan. 5, 2017, Patterson pleaded guilty to a felony information charging him with receiving child pornography.  On Aug. 9, 2016, he admitted that he possessed a hard drive with numerous child pornography images and videos he downloaded from the internet. 

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.