RIDGELAND MAN SENTENCED TO 80 YEARS FOR POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNAGRAPHY
Madison and Rankin Counties’ District Attorney John K. “Bubba” Bramlett announced today that William Robertson, 43, pled guilty in Madison County Circuit Court to eight counts of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to serve eighty years without any eligibility for early release or parole.
On November 26, 2024, investigators with the Ridgeland Police Department received a tip from the Webster County Sheriff’s Department regarding an individual they had been investigating for possible child exploitation. Webster County had been engaging in an undercover chat operation with Robertson wherein Robertson was attempting to receive explicit photos and engage in sexual contact with a person Robertson believed to be an underage female but was actually a Webster County Internet Crimes Against Children investigator. Based on the extensive conversations between the undercover officer and Robertson, it was believed Robertson had child pornography on his computer or cell phone.
Ridgeland Police Department obtained a search warrant for Robertson’s home. They located several cell phones in his home along with bags containing sexually related objects included handcuffs, whips, personal lubricant, and duct tape. The phones were forensically examined. Investigators uncovered an extensive collection of child pornography involving minors ranging in age from toddlers to early teens. Investigators were also able to locate and identify a young woman who disclosed that she was the subject in some of the sexually explicit photographs. She detailed that she and Robertson had engaged in a sexual relationship beginning when she was fourteen for approximately one year. Other photographs were determined to have been downloaded from the internet and did not contain individuals with whom Robetson had contact.
During jury selection of the State’s trial against Robertson, he changed his plea to guilty for all eight counts of possession of child pornography. A sentencing hearing was conducted on Monday, November 10th. He was sentenced to forty years for each offense, which is the maximum allowed by law. Counts I and II were to run consecutively for a total of eighty years to serve with the other six counts running concurrently. Robertson will have to serve each and every day of that sentence.
District Attorney Bramlett stated, “People who prey on children are among the worst offenders in our society. This man had sexually abused one child and was attempting to victimize another when he was caught. He had also revictimized every child contained in the images on his phone by accessing and downloading evidence of their own abuse for his sick pleasure. This eighty year sentence is essentially a life sentence and will ensure he will never be able to hurt and traumatize children again.”
Defendant:
Name: WILLIAM ROBERTSON
DOB: 06/19/1982
