Former pediatric nurse pleads guilty to child porn charges

May 29—COLUMBUS — A Preston resident and former pediatric nurse practitioner has pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography in a case involving thousands of images and videos of child pornography.

William Clinton Storey, 41, of Preston, pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography before U.S. District Judge Clay Land. Storey faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years up to a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and a term of supervised release of at least five years up to a lifetime of supervision. Storey also will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from federal prison under the Sex Offender Registration Act. Storey's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 17. There is no parole in the federal system.

"William Storey will spend a significant period of time in prison for his role in distributing large amounts of the most depraved depictions of child sexual abuse online — a criminal act made even more disturbing knowing he was a pediatric nurse practitioner at the time of his crimes," acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia Peter D. Leary said in a news release. "GBI and FBI agents are to be commended for their urgent and precise investigation into Storey's activities as a child predator, removing him from his role working with children and helping us obtain justice."

"The GBI will continue to work tirelessly to protect innocent victims of online exploitation," GBI Director Vic Reynolds said. "In this instance, the offender was a health care provider. We are grateful for the relationships we maintain with our federal partner agencies to bring these predators to justice."

According to court documents, the multimedia messaging app Snapchat detected that user clint31824 had uploaded five files of suspected child pornography while using the platform on Nov. 21, 2019. The GBI investigated the cybertip and traced the IP used by user clint31824 to the defendant. At the time, Storey was employed as a certified family nurse practitioner.

Agents executed search warrants at Storey's home and business on Feb. 18, 2020, seizing seven devices belonging to Storey. A forensic examination of the electronic media seized during the search warrant discovered approximately 6,000 videos and 24,000 images of suspected child pornography. The files contained depictions of babies, small toddlers, minors engaged in bondage, and male and female prepubescent children being sexually abused by adult males. The case was investigated by the GBI and FBI with assistance from the Webster County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Crawford Seals is prosecuting the case.