Hutchinson man pleads guilty to producing child pornography

WICHITA, KAN. - A Kansas man pleaded guilty to producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to court documents, William "Bill" Bright, 58, of Hutchinson pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography.

In June 2025, Bright went to a Kansas truck stop for a sexual meetup with a 15-year-old girl with whom he'd been exchanging private messages. The "girl" was actually a law enforcement officer, and Bright was arrested. Officers obtained a search warrant for Bright's cellphone where they discovered CSAM images of two minor victims under 14 years old. Text messages indicate Bright requested the images from the victims and that he was aware the victims were minors.

Bright is scheduled to be sentenced on November 12, 2026. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, and the Harvey County Sheriff's Office are investigating the case.

Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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