A 60-year-old sex offender pleaded guilty before a federal judge in Texarkana on Monday to possessing child pornography.
William Johnson Springer was sentenced to time in an Oklahoma federal prison in 2009 for the same offense. Springer appeared Monday for a hearing in Texarkana before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven. He is represented by Texarkana attorney Jeff Harrelson.
Springer was named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on March 18, 2020, in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas.
According to the indictment, on Sep. 18, 2019, Springer possessed child pornography on a cell phone. Included among the images of child pornography were videos that depict the rape of a prepubescent minor, an infant, and a child in bondage.
Springer was previously convicted of possession of child pornography in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. On Feb. 9, 2009, he was sentenced to 67 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release as a result of that conviction. Springer also has pending charges for failure to comply with registration requirements in the 202nd District Court in Bowie County.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Hornok is prosecuting.
Springer will appear for sentencing at a later date. He faces 10 to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
