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120 Years for Child Porn Kingpin
William S. Gazafi, a former Air Force non-commissioned officer, has been sentenced to 120 years in prison for producing and distributing child pornography. The 44-year-old Lusby, Maryland resident was found to have produced hundreds of images of children, including infants and toddlers, engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
According to court documents, Gazafi was identified and arrested in 2013 after engaging in a chat with an undercover officer on a website dedicated to incest discussions. During the chat, he discussed his sexual interest in children and admitted to drugging and molesting several children, including an infant.
A forensic examination of Gazafi’s digital media items revealed videos and images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including one child as young as five months old. The images also depicted children bound and handcuffed while sleeping. Gazafi distributed the images he produced to others on the Internet, and communicated with other child pornography producers who sent him images of children they were abusing.
At the time of his arrest, Gazafi was working at Andrews Air Force Base and possessed over 15,000 images and videos of children being sexually abused, many of whom were toddlers and infants. This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The case was investigated by the FBI, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office. It was prosecuted by Trial Attorney LisaMarie Freitas of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Sullivan of the District of Maryland.
U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus imposed the sentence, which is a result of Gazafi’s guilty plea to six counts of sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice’s Criminal Division praised the efforts of the investigators and prosecutors in bringing this case to justice.
Gazafi’s sentence is a stark reminder of the severity of child exploitation and abuse. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the government will continue to work 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.justice.gov/psc.
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Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime|Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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