Decatur Man Sentenced to 160 Years for Soliciting Child Sex Abuse

A federal judge in Alabama has sentenced a man to 160 years in prison for soliciting videos and webcam shows of Filipina children being sexually abused.

Benjamin Walter, 41, of Decatur, was convicted by a federal jury on October 5, 2021 of four counts of producing and attempting to produce child pornography and one count each of receiving and distributing child pornography.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Walter used two web service provider accounts, including messenger and webcam applications, to seek women in the Philippines to sexually abuse their own children and relatives. Walter’s requests to these women, which spanned approximately three years, included directions to arrange for the gang rape of young children and to sexually assault several young children in other harmful ways.

Walter sent money to the Philippines for the videos, images, and live transmissions via Moneygram, Western Union, and other money remitters in $25 to $50 increments. In addition to the live webcam shows, Walter also sent and received emails to which the senders attached images and videos of young children engaged in sex acts with adult men.

This investigation and prosecution were part of a joint FBI and Homeland Security Investigations operation that targeted the buyers and sellers of these types of webcam shows in the Philippines.

The FBI’s Huntsville Field Office investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Charles Schmitz and Nadia Prinz of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White of the Northern District of Alabama are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and CEOS.

In related news, Project Safe Childhood has marshaled federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

The exact criminal charges brought against Benjamin Walter include:

• Four counts of producing and attempting to produce child pornography
• One count of receiving child pornography
• One count of distributing child pornography

The case is currently under prosecution.

The sentencing took place in Huntsville, Alabama.

Bennjamin Walter’s exact sentence is 160 years’ imprisonment.

Walter has been convicted of soliciting videos and webcam shows of Filipina children being sexually abused.

He was found guilty of using two web service provider accounts to seek women in the Philippines to sexually abuse their own children and relatives.