September 6, 2020
by: Staff Report
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA- A man who sexually exploited children in the Philippines was sentenced today to 30 years in federal prison.
William Meyer, age 65, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the sentence after a February 4, 2020 guilty plea to one count of sexual exploitation of children. At the plea hearing, Meyer admitted that between 2012 and 2019 he persuaded, induced, or enticed minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions or transmitting live visual depictions of this conduct. The record at the sentencing hearing established that Meyer had traveled to the Philippines for charitable work. The live visual depictions included sexually explicit Skype video transmissions from at least six children in the Philippines, including three prepubescent girls.
Meyer was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Meyer was sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment and fined $50,000. Special assessments of $5,100 were imposed and Meyer must also serve a five-year term of supervised release. He must comply with all sex offender registration and public notification requirements.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.