A Grand Bay, Ala., man was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release, for possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, Walton Stephen Vaughan, 67, was found to be in possession of hundreds of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct when, on February 27, 2019, FBI agents and local law enforcement personnel executed a search warrant at his residence in Lucedale, Mississippi.

Vaughan was indicted by a federal grand jury and pled guilty on February 23, 2023.

In addition to his term of imprisonment, Vaughan was ordered to pay restitution to victims totaling $29,500, and a $3,000 assessment under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018.  Vaughan was also ordered to register as a sex offender.

U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi, Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown of the FBI in Mobile, Alabama, and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the FBI in Mississippi made the announcement.

The case was investigated by the FBI in Mobile, Alabama, with assistance from the FBI in Mississippi. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.