Las Vegas Photographer Thompson Sentenced to 29.5 Years for Child Exploitation

Las Vegas photographer William Clyde Thompson, 58, was sentenced Monday to 29 1/2 years in federal prison for orchestrating a sprawling child sexual exploitation enterprise that spanned Nevada, Arizona, and California. Thompson, who posed as a modeling photographer and youth sports sponsor, pleaded guilty in February 2019 to charges including child exploitation enterprise, sexual exploitation of a child, conspiracy to produce child pornography, distribution of child pornography, conspiracy to distribute child pornography, and possession of child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey handed down the sentence after Thompson admitted to luring minors under false pretenses. In November 2011, he photographed and filmed a 10-year-old boy in sexually explicit poses, claiming he would help the child secure sponsorship as a professional skateboarder. The scheme unraveled in November 2012 when a potential sponsor alerted the boy’s mother, prompting her to report Thompson to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. A subsequent raid on Thompson’s residence and studio yielded over 10,000 files of child sexual exploitation material.

Thompson was initially arrested in January 2013 on state charges and placed under house arrest, but cut off his monitoring ankle bracelet and fled the Las Vegas area. A federal indictment followed in September 2013. While on the run, Thompson resurfaced in Needles, California, during spring and summer 2014, where he contacted at least six boys at a local skate park. Using aliases ‘Tony Bailor’ and ‘Jason Brock,’ he posed as a scooter sponsor, offering gifts to manipulate minors into joining a fake sponsorship ‘team’—a front for producing child pornography.

Over six months, Thompson and a co-conspirator produced more than 20,000 sexually explicit images and videos of the children. The operation included multiple websites where Thompson posted sample images to lure buyers. Once payment was made, purchasers received a hyperlink to cloud-stored files containing the illicit content. This distribution network allowed Thompson to profit from the abuse while evading detection.

His criminal run ended in January 2015 when he was arrested during a traffic stop in Mohave Valley, Arizona. Authorities seized digital devices containing over one million images ranging from child erotica to hardcore child pornography involving multiple victims. The FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department led the investigation, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Burton and Elham Roohani.

In addition to his 29.5-year prison term, Thompson will serve a lifetime of supervised release, must pay full restitution to his victims, and is required to register as a sex offender under the Sexual Offender Registration Notification Act. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of child sexual exploitation through coordinated federal, state, and local law enforcement action.