ML man sentenced to year in prison for child porn

EPHRATA — A Moses Lake man was sentenced to just over a year in prison this week for possession of dozens of sexual images and videos of children.

William Stoutzenberger, 75, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He was also sentenced to 36 months in community custody and must undergo sexual deviancy evaluation and treatment.

Stoutzenberger had no prior criminal history, according to court documents. The court dismissed an additional charge.

Law enforcement began investigating Stoutzenberger in 2016 after a tip was provided by Facebook to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Multiple other tips were subsequently made.

Police served a search warrant on Stoutzenberger’s residence and seized his cellphone and computer, where dozens of pornographic images and videos were reportedly discovered.

Stoutzenberger claimed in interviews both with police and later with an evaluator tasked with determining his risk to the public that he was not technologically competent enough to have downloaded the images and that he must have been hacked.

Emry Dinman can be reached via email at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.