Married couple sentenced to 327 months in federal prison for production of child porn

SAN ANTONIO – A husband and wife on Wednesday were sentenced to 327 months in federal prison for production of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

In addition to the prison term, a federal judge ordered William Richard Welsh, 27, and Ashleigh Nicole Browning Welsh to be placed under supervised release for a period of 20 years after serving their time in prison.

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Court records said Homeland Security Investigations received information that a person from New Zealand received images and videos showing children engaged in sexually explicit conduct on the Kik messenger app from a user in San Antonio.

Authorities identified adults in the videos as the Welshes.

The Welshes admitted to HSI agents that they produced the child porn in their home in Stockdale, Texas.

The couple has remained in custody since December 2015 when they were arrested. Ashleigh Welsh and William Welsh, in October 2016, each pleaded guilty to three counts of production of child pornography.

The investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, which, since 2003, has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children. Operation Predator is an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. 

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About the Author:

Ivan Herrera has worked as a journalist in San Antonio since 2016. His work for KSAT 12 and KSAT.com includes covering breaking news of the day, as well as producing Q&As and content for the "South Texas Pride" and "KSAT Money" series.