Florida Man Blamed Child Porn Downloads On Dad; Gets 20 Years

SARASOTA, FL — A 57-year-old Florida man who blamed his elderly father for the child porn downloads on his computer, was sentenced to 20 years in jail Thursday after a jury convicted him of 79 counts of possession of child pornography.

Circuit Court Judge Charles Roberts also sentenced William Brian Slider of Venice, Florida to an additional 15 years of probation and required him to register as a sexual offender. Slider will be required to wear a GPS electronic monitoring device when he leaves jail, according to State Attorney Ed Brodsky's office.

"During the trial, Slider testified that his father, who was visiting from Pennsylvania, must have downloaded all the child pornography," prosecutors said. "However, the jury heard from a digital forensic expert how Slider viewed one of the files of child pornography 30 minutes before, and 30 minutes after setting a personal medical appointment."

Slider was arrested in June of 2019 after agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement tied his IP address to downloaded child pornography.

Investigators found a laptop in Slider's living room that contained 79 video files of child pornography. Many of the videos depicted sexual battery on young children, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors insisted Slider logged into his bank account around the time when the child pornography was viewed. They showed the jury phone records to prove Slider's father was at home in Pennsylvania at the time the child pornography was downloaded.

"It's unfortunate that Slider decided to blame his 80-year old father for these awful crimes," Assistant State Attorney Ryan Felix said after the sentencing. "I am glad that the jury saw through it rather easily."