A Keyes man who was caught with hundreds of child pornography images was sentenced Friday to federal prison.

William Alonzo Jones, 29, was sentenced to 11 years and three months for his conviction of receipt of child pornography charges.

The prison term will be followed by 15 years of supervised release during which time Jones will be required to register as a sex offender, participate in sex offender treatment, and his access to minors, computers, and the Internet will be restricted, said Department of Justice spokesperson Lauren Horwood.

Jones was arrested after his Internet activity caught the attention of a Federal Bureau of Investigations agent. On Feb. 8, 2008, the agent, working in New Jersey, detected that Jones was making numerous images of child pornography available through the LimeWire file-sharing program. When a search warrant was executed at Jones’ residence on July 23, 2008, agents located and seized a computer that contained hundreds of images of child pornography. Jones admitted that he had acquired the images through peer-to-peer file-sharing programs.

Jones’ sentence was enhanced due to the volume and nature of the material involved in the offense. He has been in custody since his guilty plea on April 23.

The case against Jones was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC mobilizes federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

To contact Sabra Stafford, e-mail sstafford@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2002.