Former Military Personnel Sentenced for Child Exploitation and Pornography Crimes

Gordon Wesley Roughton II, a former Springfield bus driver, has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison without parole for taking sexually explicit photos of a young child and sharing them in an internet chat group. Roughton, who had worked as a seasonal bus driver for a children's program and as a substitute teacher, admitted to participating in a chat group where members traded child pornography. The investigation began after images of child pornography uploaded by Roughton were discovered on the social media platform MeWe. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller and investigated by multiple law enforcement agencies.