INDIANAPOLIS – William Cass, 57, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution and receipt of child pornography.
According to court documents, law enforcement learned that between April 25, 2021, and April 27, 2021, Cass used his Google account to send images depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct to another Google user. Cass told the Google user that he was seeking other children to sexually abuse. Evidence from Cass’s Google account revealed that in addition to distributing child sexual abuse material, Cass maintained a photo folder containing additional child sexual abuse material.
Cass has two prior felony convictions in Hancock County Indiana, for sexual misconduct with a minor and child molesting. Cass has a third felony conviction in Marion County, Indiana, for vicarious sexual gratification.
Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, and Jeffrey Adams, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, made the announcement.
The U.S. Secret Service investigated the case in conjunction with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge James R. Sweeney II. As part of the sentence, Judge Sweeney ordered that Cass be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for life following his release from federal prison and ordered Cass to pay $5000 in restitution to the child exploitation victim. Cass must also register as sex offender wherever he lives, works, or goes to school, as required by law.
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina M. Korobov who prosecuted this case.
This investigation was conducted by the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a partnership of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies led by the Indiana State Police. The Task Force is dedicated to investigating and prosecuting crimes involving the technology-facilitated sexual exploitation of children and the trafficking of child sexual abuse material. Each year, Indiana ICAC investigators evaluate thousands of tips, investigate hundreds of cases, and rescue dozens of children from ongoing sexual abuse. In fiscal year 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, the Southern District of Indiana was second out of the 94 federal districts in the country for the number of child sexual exploitation cases prosecuted.