Bowie County Sex Offender Indicted for Possession of Child Pornography

TEXARKANA, Texas –A 60-year-old Bowie County man has been indicted for possessing child pornography in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown today.

               William Johnson Springer was named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on March 18, 2020. Springer appeared in federal court today in Texarkana and will be held in custody until the resolution of this case.

               According to the indictment, on Sep. 18, 2019, Springer possessed child pornography on a cell phone. Included among the images of child pornography were videos that depict the rape of a prepubescent minor, an infant, and a child in bondage.

               Springer was previously convicted of possession of child pornography in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. On Feb. 9, 2009, he was sentenced to 67 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release as a result of that conviction. Springer also has pending charges for failure to comply with registration requirements in the 202nd District Court in Bowie County.

               If convicted, Springer faces not less than ten and not more than 20 years in federal prison.

               This case is being investigated by the Texarkana Resident Agency of the Dallas Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan R. Hornok.

               An indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.