U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday found a man from Audrain County, Missouri guilty of one count of producing child pornography and two counts of receiving child pornography.
William Dahl, 39, faces at least 15 years in prison when he is sentenced in December.
Judge Ross’ findings of fact and conclusions of law say evidence and testimony at a bench trial in May showed that Dahl photographed himself having sex with a 14-year-old girl and then emailing images to others. Dahl also received a video of a 16-year-old and a pornographic image of a 7-year-old.
Dahl met the first victim when she was 13 and he was nearly 23. Dahl took pictures of the girl in a Moberly cemetery in 2007 and sent images of his genitals to her, Judge Ross’ order says. He also sent images of her to others.
A second victim met Dahl when he was 36 and she was 16. He bought her a cell phone, alcohol, and vaping pods and they exchanged nude pictures, the order says.
The third victim is a 7-year-old girl. Dahl’s co-defendant, Jennifer Huddleston, now 35, pleaded guilty in May to one count of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. She admitted taking photographs of herself sexually abusing the sleeping girl and sending them to Dahl. She also admitted possessing child sexual abuse material downloaded from the internet. Huddleston and Dahl have been in an on-and-off relationship since 2008.
The investigation began in January 2021 when the 16-year-old victim and her family reported the inappropriate relationship between the teen and Dahl. The girl said she met Dahl through the local Civil Air Patrol. A subsequent investigation by the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team uncovered more victims.
Dahl also has pending charges in Audrain County Circuit Court.
Huddleston is scheduled to be sentenced on October 3.
The cases were investigated by the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team and Donya Jackson, an investigator with the U.S. Attorney’s office at the time. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Colleen Lang and Amy Sestric are prosecuting the case.
