A Vicksburg man will be sentenced in January after pleading guilty in Warren County Circuit Court on Monday to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of filming a minor without permission.

Willie Lee Jackson II, 43, 100 Willow Run in Bovina, was arrested July 5, 2007, after his wife became suspicious and reported him to authorities after seeing him looking at images, District Attorney Ricky Smith said. The confiscation of computers, DVDs, external hard drives and VHS tapes from Jackson’s home led to the charges.

“It is one of the largest amounts of child pornography we have dealt with up here,” said Keith Leavitt of the Mississippi Office of the Attorney General who, along with the Warren County Sheriff’s Department, investigated the case.

During the May 2008 session of the grand jury, Jackson was indicted on 10 counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of filming a minor without permission, but was allowed to plead to the two counts.

“We allowed him to plead guilty to one count of each charge, even though he was indicted on 12 counts, because we felt adding the additional counts would not have affected his sentence,” Smith said. “We felt the court would hand down the same sentence in either circumstance.” 

Jackson faces a maximum of 45 years and is set to be sentenced by Judge Isadore Patrick. His plea was open, meaning no sentencing suggestion will be made by the DA’s Office.

Jackson and his wife filed for divorce about a month after his arrest, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was granted Oct. 24, according to Warren County Chancery Court records.

*

Contact Megan Holland at mholland@vicksburgpost.com.