A Sacramento man was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury for one count of receiving child pornography and another five counts of possessing child pornography, according to a federal indictment.
William Lamar Blessett, 38, was arrested by the U.S. Marshal Service on Oct. 24 of last year and is being held without bail at Sacramento County Main Jail, according to Sacramento County inmate information.
No future court dates were listed by the county, but a U.S. Department of Justice news release did say Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Schuller Hitchcock will be prosecuting the case.
According to Lauren Horwood, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of California, Blessett plead guilty to possession of child pornography in 2008 and was sentenced to 78 months in prison. Blessett was originally arrested last October for violating his supervised release, said Horwood.
Blessett was found in possession of electronic devices that had the ability to access the internet, which was prohibited, said Horwood, and then child pornography was later found on some of those devices.
The DOJ news release said "a search of Blessett's home revealed child pornography on at least six separate electronic devices, including a laptop, three smart phones and two tablets."
If convicted of the six felony counts he is charged with, Blessett faces from 15 to 40 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the DOJ news release.
Blessett's indictment is the result of a Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation, an organization that is managed by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and is both federal- and state-funded, according to a DOJ news release.
Sacramento Superior Court records show Blessett also pleaded no contest in February of last year to one misdemeanor charge for failing to register as a sex offender and was sentenced to three years of informal probation.
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