Joplin man who brought teen runaway to motel, had sex with her and made videos sentenced to 15 years

 

A Joplin man was sentenced to 15 years in prison today for sexual exploitation of a child and for producing child pornography.

After serving his sentence, William Lee Potts, 22, will be under supervised probation for 20 years.

According to a detention motion, Potts brought the 16-year-old girl from Waynesville to Joplin.

Defendant was questioned and confessed to engaging in sexual intercourse with the victim. The defendant acknowledged that he was aware of the victim’s age and the illegality of his acts. The defendant further admitted that he photographed and made video recordings of the victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The grand jury indictment charged Potts with using the girl to produce child pornography between April 26 and May 1, 2020. He was found in the motel room with the girl May 1. 

Investigators searched his cell phone and found sexually explicit images and a child pornography video.