A Miami man was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography over the course of one year.
William Gross Jr., 31, shared in a messaging application in 2020 videos and images of children being sexually abused, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida said Thursday in a statement. According to investigators, he boasted on Kik Messenger about his sexual exploits with young girls, requested explicit videos of them and sent a lewd picture asking if a young girl could “handle” it.
Kik Messenger is known for allowing users to be anonymous, and it does not require them to register a telephone number, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
READ MORE: Are the kids safe? Here are symptoms of child abuse and where to find help in Florida
An undercover law enforcement officer was able to view still images, videos and file sharing links depicting child pornography that members shared within the group chat of about 50 members, according to court records. From August through November of 2020, Gross sent unsolicited videos and images of child sexual abuse in the chat thread to the undercover agent, investigators say.
READ MORE: South Florida man gets 15 years for ‘sextorting’ young girls on social media
In addition to his prison sentence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Gross will be placed on supervised release for 50 years.
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In February, a jury found Gross guilty of seven counts of distributing child pornography, court records show.
For more information about internet safety, go to justice.gov/psc.
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