ROUND ROCK, Texas — A Georgetown man who worked as a pastor in Round Rock has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for an enhanced charge of possession of child pornography.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Sept. 21 that 57-year-old David Lloyd Walther has been sentenced to 70 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. He has also been ordered to pay restitution of $61,000.
The DOJ said according to court documents, Walther knowingly searched for, downloaded, distributed and possessed child sexual abuse material, including child pornography – some of which depicted prepubescent children – using BitTorrent. During a search of Walther's home and vehicle in November 2022, officials found two large computer hard drives containing more than 100,000 images and more than 5,000 videos depicting child sexual abuse.
At the time of his arrest, Walther was the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Round Rock.
Walther pleaded guilty to the enhanced charge against him in June.
"Many families in the Round Rock area placed their trust in this man when he served as a leader in faith for their community,” said Jaime Esaparza, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas. “I hope that those families can find comfort in knowing our law enforcement partners and justice system are committed to protecting them, ensuring that predators such as Walther cannot continue to pose a threat to innocent children.”
“This case was especially disturbing given the defendant’s position of trust in the community,” said Special Agent in Charge Oliver E. Rich, Jr. for the FBI San Antonio Division. “This sentencing sends a strong message to child predators that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will never relent in our duty to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation wherever these crimes are present in our nation.”
The FBI San Antonio Division's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated this case, with help from the Round Rock Police Department, the Williamson County Sheriff's Office, the Williamson County Children's Advocacy Center and the Collin County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Devlin prosecuted the case.