Federal grand jury indicts Joplin man for producing child pornography with 16-year-0ld in motel room

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)

A Joplin, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for producing child pornography.

William Lee Potts, 21, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint filed against Potts on May 3, 2019.

The federal indictment charges Potts with one count of using a minor to produce child pornography from April 26 to May 1, 2019.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Potts was found in a Joplin motel room with the 16-year-old child victim on May 1, 2019. Investigators searched his cell phone and found sexually explicit images and a video of child pornography.

The charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge 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 James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Joplin, Mo., Police Department, the Waynesville, Mo., Police Department, the FBI, and the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force.