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A Louisville man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison on charges related to child pornography, it was announced by Michael A. Bennett, U.S Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

According to court documents, William Joseph Popp, 56, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison at U.S. District Court in Louisville, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for possessing child pornography after having been previously convicted of possessing child pornography and first-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

At the time he committed this offense, Popp was already on federal supervised release for a 2014 conviction for possession of child pornography. During his term of supervised release, Popp was found to be in possession of prohibited cellular telephones with internet capabilities that contained searches for and images and videos of child pornography that had been downloaded from the internet.

Therefore, Popp was sentenced to an additional 1 year and 6 months in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release.  

There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood brings together federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, you can go to www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”