William Thomas Murry III of Sherwood admitted Friday to a federal judge that he participated in an online chat room in 2015 and 2016 that shared live images of children being raped.
Murry, 62, admitted viewing the images at his business, Kawasaki Sports Center, a motorcycle dealership at 5922 S. University Ave.
He was arrested in July 2017 after agents with the Department of Homeland Security tracked the Internet Protocol address of a chat room participant to the business and then executed a search warrant there Nov. 22, 2016.
While the participant's face wasn't visible through video conferencing applications that allow participants to use their computer camera and see each other, his bare torso and genitals were, as was the background of what appeared to be an office, the U.S. attorney's office said at the time.
Although agents determined the pornography had been viewed in Murry's office and noted that he physically resembled the person who was partially pictured, prosecutors said Murry initially admitted only to using the online network while denying that he viewed child pornography.
A forensic examination of Murry's work computer and his home laptop both revealed still images and video files of child pornography, authorities said. They also noted that all other employees at the dealership were interviewed and eliminated as the person in the online chat room.
Murry was indicted in 2017 on one count of possession of child pornography and four counts of receipt of child pornography. He faced a jury trial beginning July 27 on those charges, but instead negotiated a guilty plea Friday to the first charge in exchange for the other charges being dropped.
According to court documents, the investigation that led to the indictment targeted the display of child pornography over Skype and Zoom, the video conferencing apps, and began in the United Kingdom, then spread to Toronto and the United States. Homeland Security agents in the United States posed as Zoom users to troll sessions to see if anyone was displaying child pornography.
Murry pleaded guilty Friday before U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker. When sentenced at a later date, after a pre-sentence report is prepared by federal probation officers, he will face up to 10 years in prison followed by five years to life on supervised release. He also faces a potential fine of up to $250,000.
Special characteristics of the crime that will weigh against him, according to his plea agreement, are that the offense involved children younger than 12 and that it involved material that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct. He also will be subject to a higher penalty because agents uncovered 300 to 600 images of child pornography on his computers.
And unless he is determined to be indigent, he will face a mandatory special assessment of $5,000 pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.
Murry was represented by Little Rock attorney Blake Hendrix. He is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant.
Metro on 01/20/2020