Former teacher indicted in Missouri for allegedly producing child pornography with 3 minor victims

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former northwestern Missouri teacher was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for allegedly producing child pornography with three minor victims.

This indictment resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Clinton County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Department.

William Derek Williams, 39, of Cameron, Missouri, was charged with three counts of producing child pornography, involving three different minor victims, from Jan. 1, 2013, to Sept. 6, 2018. Williams is also charged with one count of possessing child pornography. He formerly worked a high school language arts teacher, and more recently as a part-time high school multimedia teacher at the time of the alleged offense.

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Luna, Western District of Missouri.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 19,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child exploitation material, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2018, more than 3,000 (3191) child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 850 (859) victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

HSI is a founding member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.