A 46-year-old Lexington man who told people he was a combat veteran with a Purple Heart — despite never having served a day in the military — has been sentenced to more than nine years in federal prison after investigators found hundreds of child sexual abuse images on his phone alongside the fake discharge paperwork he used to build that lie.
U.S. District Judge Donald Coggins Jr. sentenced William Steven Wooten to 109 months in prison followed by 20 years of court-ordered supervision, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, District of South Carolina. The federal system has no parole, the DOJ noted, meaning Wooten will serve the bulk of that term before his decades of supervision even begin.
U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling said Wooten exploited the public’s respect for veterans for his own gain, using his invented military history as a tool to get close to children. Stirling said the sentence holds Wooten accountable for what he called a pattern of deception and exploitation, and reflects a commitment to protecting children.
A Forged Record Used to Chase Trust and a Job
A DD-214 is the standard document showing a person has been discharged from the military, and Wooten used a fraudulent version of one in an attempt to land a job, according to officials cited by WSPA. He also used it, officials said, to convince a single mother that he was trustworthy enough to be around her young children.
That fake paperwork is what first drew investigators to Wooten. FBI agents searching his phone found the forged discharge document along with approximately 203 images depicting child sexual abuse, per the same WSPA report. Investigators also found search terms on his phone indicating he had sought out images of young girls being abused, officials said.
Two Separate Convictions, One Disputed Timeline
Wooten was also found guilty in state court of criminal sexual conduct with a minor. Accounts of the case diverge on when that state conviction happened relative to the FBI’s discovery: WSPA reported that Wooten was found guilty in state court eight months before the FBI found the abuse material and fraudulent document, while the Lexington County Chronicle reported the opposite order, stating he was convicted in state court eight months after the FBI uncovered that evidence.
On the federal side, the timeline is clearer. Wooten pleaded guilty to possessing the fraudulent DD-214 about two weeks before his federal trial, according to the Lexington County Chronicle. A federal jury then convicted him on one count of possessing child sexual abuse material.
Investigators Respond to the Case
FBI Columbia Special Agent in Charge Anish Shukla said protecting children is a bureau priority and that the FBI will continue investigating and prosecuting people who exploit them. The case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office with assistance from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, officials said.
As FOX Carolina News first reported, Wooten’s case combined a stolen-valor scheme with one of the federal system’s most serious child exploitation charges, resulting in a sentence that keeps him in prison for years and under federal supervision for two decades after his release.
