Cedar Rapids Man Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of Children

A man who sexually exploited children in the Philippines pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

William Meyer, age 64, from Cedar Rapids, was convicted of one count of sexual exploitation of children.  At the plea hearing, Meyer admitted that, between 2012 and 2019, he persuaded, induced, or enticed one or more minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions or for the purpose of transmitting live visual depictions of this conduct.  The live visual depictions included Skype video transmissions from minors in the Philippines.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Meyer remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Meyer faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, $5,100 in special assessments, and supervised release for 5 years to life following any imprisonment.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.