Man Who Posed as Combat Veteran Sentenced to 109 Months for Stolen Valor and Child Sexual Abuse Material
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina announced that William Steven Wooten, 46, of Lexington, South Carolina, has been sentenced to 109 months in federal prison for stolen valor and possession of child sexual abuse material, to be followed by a 20-year term of court-ordered supervision. U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling announced the sentence. Wooten was convicted on the child sexual abuse charges by a federal jury earlier this year.
The FBI was conducting a stolen valor investigation related to Wooten's possession and use of a fraudulent Form DD-214, a military discharge document. Wooten purported to be a combat veteran and to have earned a Purple Heart; in truth, he had never served in the military. He used the fraudulent document in an effort to obtain employment and to convince a single mother that he was an upstanding citizen who could be trusted around her young children.
The FBI obtained a search warrant for Wooten's phone and discovered child sexual abuse material in addition to the fraudulent DD-214. FBI forensic examiners located 203 images depicting child sexual abuse, and search terms indicated Wooten was seeking images of young girls, including children being abused by adult males. Just eight months before the FBI found the material and the fraudulent document, Wooten had been found guilty in state court of criminal sexual conduct with a minor. About two weeks before his federal trial in February 2026, he pleaded guilty to possessing the fraudulent DD-214.
U.S. District Judge Donald Coggins, Jr. imposed the sentence. There is no parole in the federal system. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood and was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office and the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Watkins prosecuted the case. (Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina)
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：联邦调查局总部大楼（GSM固定图库）。美国政府作品，公共领域。 / Photo: FBI headquarters (GSM file photo). U.S. government work, public domain.
