The ruling comes after the case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative to combat the growing issue of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — According to the United States Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas, Michael Billy Whitehead was sentenced to federal prison on one charge of the possession of child pornography on Aug.17.
In January of 2020, authorities initially discovered suspected child pornography that was being accessed through a program traced to an IP address in Fayetteville, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
After conducting a search of the residence associated with the IP address, law enforcement seized devices that had images and videos of sexual abuse material involving minors.
Whitehead’s sentencing comes months after he pleaded guilty in March of 2022.
His case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations Fayetteville and the Northwest Arkansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force.
Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. The initiative’s mission is 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, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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