From the US Dept of Justice London, Ky. -
An Antioch, Tennessee, man, and former South Laurel Middle School teacher and basketball coach, 32-year-old William Goodson, was sentenced on Tuesday, by U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom, to 246 months, for online enticement of a minor.
According to his plea agreement, from August 2023 through February 23, 2024, while he was a teacher at the Middle School, Goodson persuaded a minor to engage in sexual activity. Specifically, Goodson communicated many sexually explicit messages with the victim, through text messages and Snapchat. When questioned, Goodson told police that his relationship with the minor was like that of a boyfriend, and he further admitted to buying the victim gifts and communicating daily, via Snapchat. Ultimately, Goodson convinced the minor victim to engage in sexual contact, on multiple occasions, within his classroom.
Under federal law, Goodson must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon Goodson’s release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 20 years.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Michael Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office; and Chief Jerry Hollon, London Police Department, jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and London Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Blankenship prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Comments