Massachusetts Man Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison on Child Pornography Charges

DOJ Press

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Massachusetts man was sentenced today to 480 months in prison for trafficking in thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse while incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dix for a previous offense transporting and possessing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

William H. Noble, 57, of Lowell, Massachusetts, was convicted in November 2021 after a three-day jury trial before Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez of conspiring to receive and distribute child pornography, receiving child pornography, distributing child pornography, possessing child pornography, and accessing with intent to view child pornography on federal property. Judge Rodriguez imposed today’s sentence in Camden federal court. In addition to the prison term, Judge Rodriguez sentenced Noble to five years of supervised release. Noble was also ordered to pay $63,415 in restitution to the victims.

According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:

From Nov. 1, 2016, to April 26, 2017, while an inmate at FCI-Fort Dix, Noble participated in a conspiracy with other inmates to receive and distribute images of child sexual abuse. Noble was serving an 81-month sentence following his guilty plea in the District of Massachusetts to transportation and possession of child pornography. He was scheduled to be released on March 8, 2018.


While in prison, Noble and his conspirators accessed images of child sexual abuse on the “dark web” using cell phones that had been smuggled into the prison. They then stored the images on micro SD cards, which they shared amongst the conspirators.


On April 19, 2017, Noble transferred a micro SD card containing over 2,400 images and nearly 100 videos of child sexual abuse to a government informant. Many of the images and videos depicted the sexual abuse of prepubescent children, including infants and toddlers. At the time of the transfer, Noble was recorded describing the child sexual abuse images and videos to the informant. Noble’s conspirators were also recorded describing Noble’s role and conduct in furtherance of the conspiracy. When Noble was arrested on Feb. 5, 2018, he confessed to the FBI.

The charges against Noble stem from a long-term investigation by the FBI, which led to similar charges against seven other FCI-Fort Dix inmates. All of the other defendants have already pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy, with the investigation. He also thanked officials of the Bureau of Prisons and FCI-Fort Dix for their assistance with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew B. Johns and David E. Malagold of the Criminal Division.

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