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Last updated on Thursday, June 6, 2013
(BEDFORD) - 47-year-old John Williams Hudson II, of Bedford was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison on charges of both possession and distributing child pornography.
He was arrested in August after a federal grand jury indictment. He was intially charged with one county of distribution of child pornography and two counts of possession of pornography.
The indictment charges that Hudson knowingly distributed, by computer, 20 images depicting a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also charges that Hudson possessed more than one "image, film, videotape or other matter" depicting a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment further charges that Hudson possessed thumb drives and a digital hard drive containing 24 images depicting minors engaging in sex.
According to court documents, federal investigators first identified Hudson in January 2012 through the use of undercover officers on a peer-to-peer file sharing network. During that operation, an online user of that service was found to be sharing hundreds of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. That user's activity was traced to a home in Bedford, which was later identified as Hudson's residence.
On May 1, 2012, a federal search warrant was executed at Hudson's home. Investigators found computer equipment that contained more than 300 sexually-explicit images and a dozen video files depicting children. Hudson informed investigators that he would periodically delete all of his pornography files, after which he would begin to collect images and video files again.
In sentencing Hudson, U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt considered a pattern of sexual exploitation by the defendant, including admissions that he had abused a male relative over a period of 10 years, beginning when the relative was just five years old. This abuse included Hudson making still images and video files of the victim.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle L. Helart, the defendant was ordered to serve lifetime supervised release at the end of his prison term. These charges were the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cyber Crimes Task Force.
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